Glacier Change, Supraglacial Debris Expansion and Glacial Lake Evolution in the Gyirong River Basin, Central Himalayas, between 1988 and 2015
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data
2.2. Methods
3. Results
3.1. Glacier Distribution and Changes
3.2. Hypsometry and Topographic Characteristics of Glaciers
3.3. Glacial Lake Inventory and Lake Changes
4. Discussion
4.1. Impact of Debris Cover on Glacier Changes
4.2. Effect of Glacial Lake Changes on Glaciers
4.3. Impact of Glacier Changes on Glacial Lakes
4.4. Climate as a Major Factor Driving Glacial Retreat and Lacustrine Evolution
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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No. | WRS-2 Path/Row | Satellite/Sensor | Acquisition Date (mm/dd/yyyy) | Thematic Mapping |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 26 September 1988 | Glacier/Lake |
2 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 27 September 1994 | Glacier/Lake |
3 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 27 December 2001 | Glacier/Lake |
4 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 14 October 2006 | Glacier/Lake |
5 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 25 October 2010 | Glacier/Lake |
6 | 141/040 | Landsat 8/OLI | 7 October 2015 | Glacier/Lake |
7 | 141/041 | Landsat 5/TM | 12 October 1988 | Lake |
8 | 141/041 | Landsat 5/TM | 13 October 1994 | Lake |
9 | 141/041 | Landsat 5/TM | 27 December 2001 | Lake |
10 | 141/041 | Landsat 5/TM | 1 December 2006 | Lake |
11 | 141/041 | Landsat 5/TM | 25 October 2010 | Lake |
12 | 141/041 | Landsat 8/OLI | 7 October 2015 | Lake |
13 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 29 November 1988 † | Glacier/Lake |
14 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 3 January 1990 † | Glacier/Lake |
15 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 13 October 1994 † | Glacier/Lake |
16 | 141/040 | Landsat 7/ETM+ | 24 October 2001 † | Glacier/Lake |
17 | 141/040 | Landsat 7/ETM+ | 22 September 2001 † | Glacier/Lake |
18 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 4 March 2006 † | Glacier/Lake |
19 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 28 December 2010 † | Glacier/Lake |
20 | 141/040 | Landsat 5/TM | 25 October 2010 † | Glacier/Lake |
21 | 141/040 | Landsat 8/OLI | 26 September 2017 † | Glacier/Lake |
Year | C-Glacier Count (Area, km2) | D-Glacier | Sum Count (Area, km2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Count (Area, km2) | C-Part (km2) | D-Part (km2) | |||
1988 | 435 (305.51) | 32 (308.58) | 235.80 | 72.78 | 467 (614.09) |
1994 | 432 (289.94) | 32 (304.63) | 226.05 | 78.58 | 464 (594.57) |
2001 | 429 (278.24) | 32 (298.98) | 218.19 | 80.79 | 461 (577.22) |
2006 | 415 (262.80) | 34 (293.47) | 211.17 | 82.30 | 449 (556.27) |
2010 | 402 (248.53) | 37 (288.59) | 203.56 | 85.03 | 439 (537.12) |
2015 | 397 (230.94) | 37 (282.13) | 191.56 | 90.57 | 434 (513.07) |
Period | Count | Area (km2) (Annual Rate (% a−1)) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C-Glacier | D-Glacier | C-Glacier | D-Glacier | C-Part | D-Part | |
1988–1994 | −3 | 0 | −15.57 (−0.42) | −3.95 (−0.11) | −9.75 (−0.26) | +5.80 (+0.16) |
1994–2001 | −3 | 0 | −11.70 (−0.28) | −5.65 (−0.14) | −7.86 (−0.19) | +2.21 (+0.05) |
2001–2006 | −14 | +2 | −15.44 (−0.53) | −5.51 (−0.19) | −7.02 (−0.24) | +1.51 (+0.05) |
2006–2010 | −13 | +3 | −14.27 (−0.64) | −4.88 (−0.22) | −7.61 (−0.34) | +2.73 (+0.12) |
2010–2015 | −5 | 0 | −17.59 (−0.65) | −6.46 (−0.24) | −12.00 (−0.45) | +5.54 (+0.21) |
1988–2015 | −38 | +5 | −74.57 (−0.54) | −26.45 (−0.19) | −44.24 (−0.32) | +17.79 (+0.11) |
Scenario | Description | Area (km2) |
---|---|---|
Unchanged | C-glacier | 226.42 |
C-part glacier | 190.96 | |
D-part glacier | 70.01 | |
Decreased | C-glacier | 76.77 |
C-part glacier | 21.88 | |
D-part glacier | 2.58 | |
Converted | C-part to D-part due to glacial downwasting | 18.57 |
C-part to C-glacier due to glacial splitting at the upper level | 4.39 | |
C-glacier to D-part due to glacial downwasting | 1.99 | |
C-glacier to C-part due to formation of D-part glacier | 0.33 | |
D-part to C-part due to glacier motion | 0.19 | |
Increased | C-glacier | 0.13 |
C-part glacier | 0.07 | |
D-part glacier from C-part or C-glacier (equivalent to related conversions above) | 20.56 | |
Total change | C-glacier | −74.57 |
C-part glacier | −44.24 | |
D-part glacier | +17.79 |
Year | Supraglacial | C-Glacier Connected | D-Glacier Connected | Glacier-Fed Unconnected | Non-Glacier-Fed | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | 11 (0.11) | 14 (0.67) | 7 (0.36) | 46 (2.38) | 29 (1.10) | 107 (4.62) |
1994 | 20 (0.21) | 14 (0.52) | 7 (0.49) | 53 (2.69) | 29 (1.06) | 123 (4.97) |
2001 | 21 (0.26) | 13 (0.39) | 5 (0.41) | 64 (3.04) | 29 (1.06) | 132 (5.16) |
2006 | 25 (0.32) | 12 (0.57) | 6 (0.49) | 64 (3.30) | 32 (1.10) | 139 (5.78) |
2010 | 23 (0.48) | 10 (0.40) | 6 (0.75) | 71 (3.47) | 32 (1.09) | 144 (6.19) |
2015 | 24 (0.55) | 9 (0.77) | 8 (1.00) | 74 (3.56) | 33 (1.24) | 148 (7.12) |
1988–2015 | +13 (+0.44) | −5 (+0.10) | +1 (+0.64) | +28 (+1.18) | +4 (+0.14) | +41 (+2.50) |
Type | 1988 | 1988–2015 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Count | Area (km2) | Area Loss (km2) | Area Loss Rate (%) | |
C-glacier connected with lake | 14 | 18.88 | 4.85 | 25.69 |
C-glacier unconnected with lake | 421 | 286.63 | 69.72 | 24.32 |
D-glacier connected with lake | 6 a | 40.02 | 4.57 | 11.42 |
D-glacier unconnected with lake | 26 | 268.56 | 21.88 | 8.15 |
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Jiang, S.; Nie, Y.; Liu, Q.; Wang, J.; Liu, L.; Hassan, J.; Liu, X.; Xu, X. Glacier Change, Supraglacial Debris Expansion and Glacial Lake Evolution in the Gyirong River Basin, Central Himalayas, between 1988 and 2015. Remote Sens. 2018, 10, 986. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10070986
Jiang S, Nie Y, Liu Q, Wang J, Liu L, Hassan J, Liu X, Xu X. Glacier Change, Supraglacial Debris Expansion and Glacial Lake Evolution in the Gyirong River Basin, Central Himalayas, between 1988 and 2015. Remote Sensing. 2018; 10(7):986. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10070986
Chicago/Turabian StyleJiang, Sheng, Yong Nie, Qiao Liu, Jida Wang, Linshan Liu, Javed Hassan, Xiangyang Liu, and Xia Xu. 2018. "Glacier Change, Supraglacial Debris Expansion and Glacial Lake Evolution in the Gyirong River Basin, Central Himalayas, between 1988 and 2015" Remote Sensing 10, no. 7: 986. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10070986