Snow cover dynamics and hydrological regime of the Hunza River basin, Karakoram Range, Northern Pakistan

Abstract. A major proportion of flow in the Indus River is contributed by its snow- and glacier-fed river catchments situated in the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindukush ranges. It is therefore essential to understand the cryosphere dynamics in this area for water resource management. The MODIS MOD10A2 remote-sensing database of snow cover products from March 2000 to December 2009 was selected to analyse the snow cover changes in the Hunza River basin (the snow- and glacier-fed sub-catchment of the Indus River). A database of daily flows for the Hunza River at Dainyor Bridge over a period of 40 yr and climate data (precipitation and temperature) for 10 yr from three meteorological stations within the catchment was made available to investigate the hydrological regime in the area. Analysis of remotely sensed cryosphere (snow and ice cover) data during the last decade (2000–2009) suggest a rather slight expansion of cryosphere in the area in contrast to most of the regions in the world where glaciers are melting rapidly. This increase in snow cover may be the result of an increase in winter precipitation caused by westerly circulation. The impact of global warming is not effective because a large part of the basin area lies under high altitudes where the temperature remains negative throughout most of the year.

[1]  John W. Pomeroy,et al.  Incoming longwave radiation to melting snow: observations, sensitivity and estimation in Northern environments , 2006 .

[2]  Jocelyn Chanussot,et al.  Improving MODIS Spatial Resolution for Snow Mapping Using Wavelet Fusion and ARSIS Concept , 2008, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[3]  Kenneth Hewitt,et al.  The Karakoram Anomaly? Glacier Expansion and the ‘Elevation Effect,’ Karakoram Himalaya , 2005 .

[4]  Kenneth Hewitt,et al.  Tributary glacier surges: an exceptional concentration at Panmah Glacier, Karakoram Himalaya , 2007, Journal of Glaciology.

[5]  M. Winiger,et al.  Karakorum–Hindukush–western Himalaya: assessing high‐altitude water resources , 2005 .

[6]  Michael P. Bishop,et al.  Space-based assessment of glacier fluctuations in the Wakhan Pamir, Afghanistan , 2009 .

[7]  Zuhal Akyürek,et al.  Using MODIS snow cover maps in modeling snowmelt runoff process in the eastern part of Turkey , 2005 .

[8]  K. Hewitt,et al.  Hydrology research in the upper Indus basin, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan , 1989 .

[9]  D. Archer,et al.  Contrasting hydrological regimes in the upper Indus Basin , 2003 .

[10]  J. Rodgers,et al.  Thirteen ways to look at the correlation coefficient , 1988 .

[11]  Rutger Dankers,et al.  Monitoring snow-cover dynamics in Northern Fennoscandia with SPOT VEGETATION images , 2004 .

[12]  M. J. Booij,et al.  The impact of climate change on the water resources of Hindukush Karakorum Himalaya region under different glacier coverage scenarios , 2008 .

[13]  D. Viviroli,et al.  Mountains of the World - Water Towers for the 21st Century , 2009 .

[14]  P. Wagnon,et al.  Atmospheric controls of the heat balance of Zongo Glacier (16 degrees S, Bolivia) - art. no. D12106 , 2005 .

[15]  Helmut Rott,et al.  Assimilation of meteorological and remote sensing data for snowmelt runoff forecasting , 2008 .

[16]  R. Hirsch,et al.  Techniques of trend analysis for monthly water quality data , 1982 .

[17]  Jaroslav Martinec,et al.  SNOWMELT - RUNOFF MODEL FOR STREAM FLOW FORECASTS , 1975 .

[18]  R. Hirsch,et al.  A Nonparametric Trend Test for Seasonal Data With Serial Dependence , 1984 .

[19]  Douglas W. Burbank,et al.  Towards a complete Himalayan hydrologic budget : The spatiotemporal distribution of snowmelt and rainfall and their impact on river discharge , 2010 .

[20]  Dennis P. Lettenmaier,et al.  Evaluation of the snow‐covered area data product from MODIS , 2003 .

[21]  H. Fowler,et al.  Spatial and temporal variations in precipitation in the Upper Indus Basin, global teleconnections and hydrological implications , 2004 .

[22]  K. Hewitt.  Glaciers receive a surge of attention in the Karakoram Himalaya , 1998 .

[23]  M. Kendall.  Rank Correlation Methods , 1949 .

[24]  H. B. Mann.  Nonparametric Tests Against Trend , 1945 .

[25]  Thomas M. Over,et al.  A comparison of MODIS and NOHRSC snow‐cover products for simulating streamflow using the Snowmelt Runoff Model , 2005 .

[26]  Y. Arnaud,et al.  Subpixel monitoring of the seasonal snow cover with MODIS at 250 m spatial resolution in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: Methodology and accuracy assessment , 2009 .

[27]  R. Pachauri.  Climate change 2007. Synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment report , 2008 .

[28]  H. Fowler,et al.  Hydro-climatological variability in the Upper Indus Basin and implications for water resources. , 2005 .

[29]  P. Wagnon,et al.  Atmospheric controls of the heat balance of Zongo Glacier (16°S, Bolivia) , 2005 .

[30]  S. M. Jong,et al.  Large-scale monitoring of snow cover and runoff simulation in Himalayan river basins using remote sensing , 2009 .

[31]  Mountain Agenda,et al.  Mountains of the world: water towers for the 21st century , 1998 .

[32]  Kenneth Hewitt,et al.  Hydrological Investigations at Biafo Glacier, Karakoram Range, Himalaya; an Important Source of Water for the Indus River , 1989, Annals of Glaciology.

[33]  Cameron P. Wake.  Glaciochemical Investigations as a Tool for Determining the Spatial and Seasonal Variation of Snow Accumulation in the Central Karakoram, Northern Pakistan , 1989 .

[34]  P. Chevallier,et al.  Remote sensing estimates of glacier mass balances in the Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalaya, India) , 2007 .

[35]  B. Bookhagen,et al.  Spatially variable response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change affected by debris cover , 2011 .

[36]  N. DiGirolamo,et al.  MODIS snow-cover products , 2002 .

[37]  M. Kendall,et al.  Rank Correlation Methods (5th ed.). , 1992 .

[38]  Hayley J. Fowler,et al.  Conflicting Signals of Climatic Change in the Upper Indus Basin , 2006 .