Your search found 2 records
1 Tahir, A. A.; Chevallier, P.; Arnaud, Y.; Ashraf, M.; Bhatti, Muhammad Tousif. 2015. Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region) Science of the Total Environment, 505:748-761. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.10.065]
Snow cover ; Glaciers ; Snowmelt ; Hydrological regime ; River basins ; Climatic data ; Meteorological stations ; Satellite observation ; Water resources ; Catchment areas / Pakistan / India / Western Himalayas / Karakoram Region / Indus River Basin / Astore River Basin / Hunza Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046709)
(4.13 MB)
A large proportion of Pakistan's irrigation water supply is taken from the Upper Indus River Basin (UIB) in the Himalaya–Karakoram–Hindukush range. More than half of the annual flow in the UIB is contributed by five of its snow and glacier-fed sub-basins including the Astore (Western Himalaya — south latitude of the UIB) and Hunza (Central Karakoram — north latitude of the UIB) River basins. Studying the snow cover, its spatiotemporal change and the hydrological response of these sub-basins is important so as to better managewater resources. This paper compares new data from the Astore River basin (mean catchment elevation, 4100 m above sea level; m asl afterwards), obtained using MODIS satellite snow cover images, with data from a previouslystudied high-altitude basin, the Hunza (mean catchment elevation, 4650 m asl). The hydrological regime of this sub-catchment was analyzed using the hydrological and climate data available at different altitudes from the basin area. The results suggest that the UIB is a region undergoing a stable or slightly increasing trend of snow cover in the southern (Western Himalayas) and northern (Central Karakoram) parts. Discharge from the UIB is a combination of snow and glacier melt with rainfall-runoff at southern part, but snow and glacier melt are dominant at the northern part of the catchment. Similar snow cover trends (stable or slightly increasing) but different river flow trends (increasing in Astore and decreasing in Hunza) suggest a sub-catchment level study of the UIB to understand thoroughly its hydrological behavior for better flood forecasting and water resources management.
2 Dahri, Z. H.; Ludwig, F.; Moors, E.; Ahmad, S.; Ahmad, B.; Ahmad, S.; Riaz, M.; Kabat, P. 2021. Climate change and hydrological regime of the high-altitude Indus Basin under extreme climate scenarios. Science of the Total Environment, 768:144467. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144467]
Climate change ; Hydrological regime ; Precipitation ; Air temperature ; River basins ; Hydrometeorology ; Flow discharge ; Forecasting ; Water availability ; Glaciers ; Snow ; Models ; Uncertainty / Pakistan / India / Afghanistan / Indus Basin / Kabul River / Jhelum River / Chenab River / Karakoram Region / Hindukush Region / Himalayan Region / Kharmong Region
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050278)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720379985/pdfft?md5=10d2860b7d17b30bdc1e6796a0020e92&pid=1-s2.0-S0048969720379985-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050278.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050278.pdf
(6.91 MB) (6.91 MB)
Climate change is recognized as one of the greatest challenges of 21st century. This study investigated climate and hydrological regimes of the high-altitude Indus basin for the historical period and extreme scenarios of future climate during 21st century. Improved datasets of precipitation and temperature were developed and forced to a fully-distributed physically-based energy-balance Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model to simulate the water balance at regional and sub-basin scale. Relative to historical baseline, the results revealed highly contrasting signals of climate and hydrological regime changes. Against an increase of 0.6 °C during the last 40 years, the median annual air temperature is projected to increase further between 0.8 and 5.7 °C by the end of 21st century. Similarly, a decline of 11.9% in annual precipitation is recorded, but future projections are highly conflicting and spatially variable. The Karakoram region is anticipated to receive more precipitation, while SW-Hindukush and parts of W-Himalayan region may experience decline in precipitation. The Model for Interdisciplinary Research On Climate version-5 (MIROC5) generally shows increases, while Max Planck Institute Earth System Model at base resolution (MPI-ESM-LR) indicates decreases in precipitation and river inflows under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5. Indus-Tarbela inflows are more likely to increase compared to Kabul, Jhelum and Chenab river inflows. Substantial increase in the magnitudes of peak flows and one-month earlier attainment is projected for all river gauges. High flows are anticipated to increase under most scenarios, while low flows may decrease for MPI-ESM-LR in Jhelum, Chenab and Kabul river basins. Hence, hydrological extremes are likely to be intensified. Critical modifications in the strategies and action plans for hydropower generation, construction and operation of storage reservoirs, irrigation withdrawals, flood control and drought management will be required to optimally manage water resources in the basin.
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