Snow cover variability and trend over Hindu Kush Himalayan region using MODIS and SRTM data

Abstract. Snow cover changes has a direct bearing on the regional and global energy and water cycles, and the change in Earth's climate condition The study of long term altitudinal (spatial and temporal, 2000–2017) in the coverage of snow and glaciers in one of the world’s largest mountainous region, the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region including Tibet have been studied using remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra (at 5 km grid resolution). Terra provided a unique opportunity to study zonal and hypsographic changes in the intra-annual (growing season and melting season) and inter-annual variations of snow and glacial cover over the HKH region (2000–2017). The zonal and altitudinal (hypsographic) analyses were carried out for melting-season and accumulating-season. The altitude-wise linear trend analysis (Pearson’s) of snow cover, shown as a hypsographic curve, clearly indicate a major decline in snow cover (average of 5 % or more, at 100 m interval aggregates) between 4000–4500 m and 5500–6000 m altitudes, which is consistent with the median trend (Theil-Sen, TS) and the monotonic trend (Mann-Kendall statistics, MK) analysis. The regions and altitudes where major and statistically significant increase (10 to 30 %) or decrease (−10 to −30 %) in snow cover are identified. The extrapolation of the altitude-wise linear trend shows that it may take between ~74 to 7900 year (for 3001–6000 m and 6000–7000 m altitude zones respectively) for mean snow cover to decline approximately 25 % in the HKH region, assuming no-change in other parameters) that affect the snow cover.

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