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Greater Himalaya

> 4600m Tibetan Plateau

Western Disturbances Lesser Himalaya Nov. March/April

Outer Himalaya Siwalik


<300m
1500- 3500m

3600-4600m 4000m

Terai900-1500m

SW Monsoon June Sep

Glaciers 10% Winter snow cover 35-50 % Maximum monsoon precipitation at 1500 3000 m asl

Hindu Kush Himalayan Region is the water tower of Asia feeding to major Rivers flowing through worlds most populous regions

Inaccessible & inhospitable mountainous conditions Variation in altitude, slope, aspect, soil, and landuse Hydro-meteorological characteristics change over short distances (say on windward and leeward sides) Quite sparse hydrological network in various basins Need for high density of hydrometric stations for reliable assessment of hydrological variables

In addition, need for proper design of hydrometric network and installation of automated telemetry stations

Hydrological network and database


Impact of climate change on regional water resources Changing glacial resources

Flash floods generated from Cloudburst/GLOF


Excessive soil erosion and siltation in river flows Conservation & management of lakes & springs

A number of high altitude natural lakes: Wular, Dal, Nagin, Manasbal, Mansar, Surinsar and Sanasar etc. These lakes are of high socio-economic importance but deteriorating with time in quantity and quality Important to estimate water balance components of lakes and suggest measures for their preservation & sustenance A large number of springs in mountainous areas which serve as a source of water supply for nearby population Water flows in the springs are diminishing with time. It is important to understand the hydrology of recharge zones Depending on the causes of diminishing spring flows, ameliorative measures needed to sustain spring flows

Water resource potential in the Himalayan river basins - India


SI. No. Name of the River Basin

Average Annual Potential of the River BCM


73 525 585

1.

Indus (up to Border) a.) Ganga

2.

b.) Brahmaputra, Barak & Others

Himalayan River basins, Glacier cover & Population

Basin name

Basin area, km2

Glacier area, km2

Glacier area, %

Population, 106

Indus

1,139,814

20,325

1.78

211.28

Ganges
Brahmaputra

1,023,609
527,666

12,659
16,118

1.24
3.05

448.98
62.43

NAP-2012

Distribution of Glaciers in the Indian Himalaya


INDUS BASIN
J&K
Indus,Nubra,Shyok, Jhelum,Gilgit Glaciers - 5253 Area 29163 km2 Avg.size 10.24 sq.km

BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN
H.P SIKKIM
Tista River
Glaciers 449 Area 706 km2 Avg.Size 1.59km2

Chenab,Beas,Ravi Satluj Rivers Glaciers 2786 Area 4466 Avg.Size 3.35km2

ARUNACHAL
Kamang River
Glaciers 162 Area 228km2 Avg.Size 1.41 km2

GANGA BASIN

Indus : 8039 Glaciers Area : 33629 km2 Ganga : 968 Glaciers Area : 2857 km2

Uttarakhand Glaciers- 968 Area- 2857km2 Avg.size 3.87km2


NEPAL&BHUTAN

Total - 13075 India- 9575 glaciers (GSI)

3500 Glaciers

Brahmaputra : 611 Glaciers Area :934 km2

AVERAGE SNOW COVERED AREA IN DIFFERENT HIMALAYAN BASINS


Basin Total Area (km2) Max. SCA (km2) Min. SCA (km2)

Chenab Basin up to Akhnoor

22200

15590 (70%)

5400 (24%)

Ganga Basin 19700 up to Devprayag Satluj Basin 22275 up to Bhakra Dam

9080 (46%)

3800 (19%)

14498 (65%)

4528 (20%)

Beas Basin 5278 up to Pandoh Dam

2700 (51%)

780 (14%)

SNOW AND GLACIER MELT RUNOFF IN DIFFERENT HIMALAYAN BASINS


River Site Av. snow & glaciers melt contribution to annual flows

Chenab River

Akhnoor

49%

Satluj River (Indian part) Ganga River

Bhakra Dam

60%

Devprayag

30%

Climate & Hydrology vary across the Himalayas offering diverse challenges
Glacio-Hydrological regimes of the Himalaya
Winter Snow regime (Alpine)

Cold-Arid regime
36N

Chenab Basin

Summer Monsoon + Winter snow regime

32N

(Himalayan catchment)

28N

24N

72E

80E

88E

96E

Thayyen & Gergan, 2010, The Cryosphere

A) Alpine catchment (Indus Basin)

Variations in Temporal distribution of precipitation ,glacier melt & stream flow characterise various glaciohydrological regimes of the Himalaya In winter snow dominated Alpine system, peak glacier runoff contributes to other wise low flow period of annual stream hydrograph governed by lower precipitation in summer. (Snow>Rain>Glacier)

B) Himalayan catchment (Ganga &Brahmaputra basins) Monsoon dominated Himalayan catchment is characterized by the peak glacier runoff contributing to the crest of the annual stream flow hydrograph from monsoon in July and August months. (Rain>Snow>Glacier)
Thayyen & Gergan, The Cryosphere 2010

C) Cold arid catchment (Indus Basin) In the cold-arid regions of the Ladakh, characteristics are similar to that of Alpine system with extremely low precipitation. (Snow>Glacier>Rain) Precipitation distribution of various glacier basins of the Himalaya

Thayyen & Gergan, The Cryosphere 2010

Ganges & Brahmaputra, Indus (Sutlej & Beas)

Indus basin

Indus basin

Precipitation variability (Snow & Rain) from east to west & across altitudes controls the hydrology of mountains.

HYDROLOGICAL MODELLING

TYPE OF BASINS
RAINFED BASIN
(Outer Himalayas)

SNOW/RAINFED BASIN
(Middle Himalayas)

ICE/SNOW/ RAINFED BASIN


(Greater Himalayas)

STREAMFLOW

STREAMFLOW

STREAMFLOW

Snow

Snow and rain

* * * *

* * * *

* * * *

* * * *

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.* .*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.* .*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.* .*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Rain

ow Sn
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

fe

as db

in

-* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ci G la

efe

as db

in

Ra

inf

as db

in

Figure 1: A schematic presentation of the rainfed, snowfed and glacierfed basins.

Snow Melt Runoff Simulation Models

Snowmelt Module
Generates liquid water from the snowpack that is available for runoff.

Transformation Module
Converts the liquid output at the ground surface to runoff at the basin outlet.

Lumped Whole catchment as a single unit


Distributed These models account for the spatial variability Lumped and Distributed models can be further classified as
Energy balance Temperature index

TEMPERATURE

SNOW COVER AREA

GLACIER AREA

PRECIPITATION

DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION OF SNOW SNOW MELT CONTRIBUTING AREA GLACIER MELT CONTRIBUTING AREA SNOW FORM OF PRECIPITATION

RAIN DISTRIBUTION OF RAIN RAIN + RAIN MELT

SNOW MELT + RAIN + RAIN MELT

GLACIER MELT + RAIN + RAIN MELT

RAIN OVER SNOW AND GACIER FREE AREA

DIRECT SURFACE RUN OFF FROM SNOW COVERED AREA

ACCOUNTING OF LOSSES

DIRECT SURFACE RUN OFF FROM GLACIER AREA

ACCOUNTING OF LOSSES

ACCOUNTING OF LOSSES

DIRECT SURFACE RUN OFF FROM SNOW GLCIER FREE AREA

INFILTRATION

INFILTRATION

INFILTRATION

BASEFLOW

ROUTING

ROUTING

ROUTING

ROUTING

TOTAL

GENERATED

STREAM

FLOW

Flow chart of the snowmelt model (SNOWMOD)

MODELLING OF SNOW AND GLACIER MELT RUNOFF


Division of a basin into elevation zones
Processing of meteorological data
temperature distribution precipitation distribution

Form of precipitation Depletion of snow covered area

Glacier extent and its exposing trends


Rain-induced melt Accounting of losses Routing of surface and subsurface flow

Case study of Chenab Basin


Elevation of the study area varies from ~ 305 m to 7500 m.
Mean elevation of the basin is about 3600 m.s.l.

Total catchment area up to Akhnoor is 22,200 sq km Total Number of Glaciers is 989.


Glacierized Area is 2280 sq km.

8000
Observed discharge Simulated discharge Rainfall runoff Melt runoff Baseflow

6000

Discharge (m3/s)

4000

2000

O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M AM J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S 1996 1997 1998 1999

A comparison of observed and simulated discharge of the Chenab River at Salal Dam for the calibration period (1996/1997 to 1998/1999).

Model efficiency for the calibration period (1996/1997, 1997/1998 and 1998/1999)
Period 1996/1997 R2 0.87 Volume difference (%) 7.07

1997/1998 1998/1999 1996/1997 to 1998/1999

0.94 0.86 0.91

0.98 9.91 2.48

4000

Observed discharge Simulated discharge Rainfall runoff Melt runoff Baseflow

3000

Discharge (m3/s)

2000

1000

O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M AM J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S 1999 2000 2001 2002

A comparison of observed and simulated discharge of the Chenab River at Salal Dam for the vaidation period (1999/2000 to 2001/2002).

Model efficiency for the validation period (1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002)
Period 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 1999/2000 to 2001/2002 R2 0.91 0.90 0.91 0.92 Volume difference(%) 1.73 7.97 3.95 6.6

Case study of Gangotri Glacier

PAKISTAN

CHINA

GAUGING SITE

BAY OF BENGAL

Figure: Location map of Gangotri Glacier

Installation of AWS at Gangotri Glacier


DATALOGGER AIR TEMPERATURE & RELEVENT HUMIDITY SENSOR BAROMECTRIC PRESSURE SENSOR WIND SPEED &DIRECTION SENSOR

ALBEDOMETER ULTRASONIC SNOW DEPTH


NET PYRANOMETER TIPPING BUCKET RAIN GAUGE INFRA RED SNOW SURFACE TEMPERATURE SENSOR

250

200

2005

200

Observed flow Simulated runoff Snowmelt runoff Rainfall runoff Baseflow

2006

160

Observed flow Simulated runoff Snowmelt runoff Rainfall runoff Baseflow

Discharge (m3/s)

Discharge (m3/s)

150

120

100

80

40

50

0
May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Days
Observed flow Simulated runoff Snowmelt runoff Rainfall runoff Baseflow

Days

160

2007

120

Discharge (m3/s)

80

40

0
May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

Days

Different components of simulated runoff for summer season (2005-2007) for the Gangotri Glacier.

Percentage difference in volume, model efficiency and contributions of rainfall, snow & glaciel melt and base flow computed by the model.

Year

2005 2006 2007

Percentage Diff. in Vol. Snowmod -4.01 Snowmod Snowmod -1.61 0.29

Model

Model efficiency (%) 90 95 93

Rain (%) 4.00 2.06 1.30

Snow (%) 85.10 86.34 86.39

Base flow (%) 10.90 11.60 12.31

Temperature increase Change in water quality Change in Monsoon Pattern

Sea Level Rise

Increase in Rain Fall Intensity

Increase in Extreme Events

Impact of Climate Change

Decrease in No. of Rainy Days

Change in Ground water Recharge

Decrease in Snow Fall

Change in Runoff Pattern

Increase in Evaporation rate

Increase in Glacier retreat

Chhatru (Chenab)

Batal (Chenab)
Volume -26% Area - 22% Recession 54m/yr Beaskund-1 (Beas) Beaskund-2 (Beas) Volume -7% Area - 5% Recession 26 m/yr

1980 2006

Volume - 48% Area - 41% Recession 2 m/yr

Volume - 49% Area - 43% Recession 7.5 m/yr

Khardug glacier
Unnamed vanished glacier

Phutse glacier

Nangtse glacier

Glacier Change in the Himalaya


Region Elevation Range
5200- 5800 m a.s.l.

Area Change %

Ladakh Range
(1973-2007)

-14.7 -14.0

Kashmir & Drass


(1976-2006) Region

3600 5100 m a.s.l.

NIH Study, 2010% Area Change

Alaknanda basin (19682006) Bhagirathi basin (19682006)

-5.72% -3.32%
Bambri et al 2011

Glacier change - Chenab basin


1962 2004

Area-class (km2)
<1 1-5 5-10 >10

Number

Area (km2)
68 382 329 635

Area (km2)
42 269 240 559

Area Change (%)


-38 -29 -27 -12

127 159 48 25

Total

359

1414

1110

-21 SAC ,Ahmedabad

Variation of mean annual maximum (a), minimum (b) and mean temperature (c) (STI values) in the northwestern Himalaya in the last century. (Tmax=mean maximum temperature, Tmin=mean minimum temperature, Tavg=mean annual temperature, Y=time in years) Bhutiyani et al 2007

Decade-to-decade change in annual mean maximum, mean minimum and average air temperatures (in C/year) in the last century. Positive (negative) values indicate increasing (decreasing) temperatures. a Mean maximum b mean minimum c annual average

Increase in diurnal temperature range Western Himalaya

Linear trends in winter (a), monsoon (b) and annual precipitation (c) at Leh, Srinagar, Shimla and the NWH during the period 18662006.
(Pwin, Total winter precipitation; Pmon, Total monsoon precipitation; Pann, Total annual precipitation; Butiyani et al 2009)

Seasonwise decade-to-decade rates of increase/decrease in standardized precipitation and temperature indices (SPI and STI) in the NWH.
(a) Winter, (b) Monsoon and (c) Annual.

Varying trend in discharge of some Himalayan Rivers suggesting non-uniform response of Himalayan rivers in various hydrological regimes

Satluj

Beas

Source: Bhutiyani et al

Chenab

HYDROLOGIC EXTREMES
Excess water that cause damage FLOODS Deficit water that cause scarcity in sustaining usual activities and life DROUGHTS

Climate Change may affect other Extreme Events too


Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)

Landslides (due to increased precipitation)

Cloud burst & flash floods

Leh cloudburst Impact areas

Thayyen et al 2012

Cloudbursts and Flash floods in the Himalayas

Leh August 4 - 6 2010

Glacial Lake And Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)


Glacial dammed lakes are formed by accumulation of water from the melting of Snow and Ice cover and by blockage of end moraines. A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) can occur when a lake contained by a glacier or a terminal moraine dam fails. The bursting of moraine-dammed lakes is often due to the breaching of the dam by the erosion of the dam material as a result of overtopping by surging water or piping of dam material Impact of climate change is well observed in the Himalayan-Retreating Glaciers, Growing Glacial lakes, and-Glacial lakes

Site of GLOF washed out Road

Pond sites

Site of GLOF washed out bridge

Road washed off

Flood mark on the banks of lake

Washed of Culvert enroute to Pangong Lake

S.No
1. 2.

Basin
Tons Yamuna

No of Glacial Lakes
12 8

3.
4. 5. 6. 7.

Bhagirathi
Bhilangana Mandakini Alaknanda Pinder

30
2 10 43 1

8.
9.

Goriganga
Dhauliganga

10
7

10.
11. 12.

Kutiyangi
Beas Chenab

4
59 33

13.
14.

Satluj
Ravi

40
17

15.
16.

Taklinga
Teesta

7
266

Projecting Climate Change Impacts on Hydrology


Climate Change Projections (precipitation, temperature, radiation, humidity)
Downscaling

Topography, Landuse Patterns; soil characteristics;

Hydrologic Model

Possible Future Hydrologic Scenarios on Basin Scale


(Streamflow, Evapotranspiration, Soil Moisture, Infiltration, Groundwater

Sustainability issues of Himalayan water resources


Need to characterise the glaciers of different regions in Himalayas. Cotribution of rainfall, snow melt, glacier melt and base flow to the stream flow may be estimated for different temporal and spatial scales using hydrologic modelling approach. Climate change and its impact on these flow contributions are required to be scientifically investigated and adaptation strategies are suitably evolved for sustainability of flows in river system. Lakes in the Himalayas are main source of drinking water and recreation in many areas. For sustainability , lake water balance and lake water quality studies need to be carried.
In many areas spring flows are drying. Scientific studies are required to investigate the reasons for this phenomena. Suitable recharge zones need to be identified and springs are required to be rejuvenated through artificial recharge wherever it is feasible. It would provide sustainability of spring flows in the long term.

With time, water demands are increasing while supplies are getting limited in quantity & quality In such scenarios , water is getting considerable attention for its optimum utilization
Himalayan region suffers from some hydrological problems related to sparse hydrometric network, climate change impact, flash floods, and sedimentation There is a need to create the dense hydrometric network and generate long-term hydrological database for the region

Glacier and snow-melt have major contribution to the river flows in the region. It is necessary to characterize the glaciers in different climatological regions of the basin

To develop adaptation strategies to cope up with the likely climate change impacts, it is important to carry out hydrological modeling studies for different basins with probable climate change scenarios
In view of the enormous hydropower potential in the basin, plan should be developed to generate maximum hydropower from the available resources Sedimentation being a major concern for development of new projects, watershed prioritization measures may be adopted to control sediment generation & movement

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