Satellite-observed glacier recession in the Kashmir Himalaya, India, from 1980 to 2018

• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-08554-1
• Publication Date: 2020-08-24T15:03:36Z
• Authors: Shakil Ahmad Romshoo; Midhat Fayaz; Gowhar Meraj; I. M. Bahuguna
• Keywords: Rivers; 13. Climate action; Altitude; India; Ice Cover; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The study, first of its kind in the Kashmir Valley, uses a time series of satellite data (1980-2018) to determine the glacier health, which is critical for sustaining the perenniality of the rivers originating from the area. The role of topography, morphology and climate on the observed glacier recession was investigated. In total, 147 glaciers were mapped from 1980 image; ~ 72% of the glaciers have area ≤ 3 km2 and a majority of them (123) are having size < 1 km2. The glaciers have reduced from 101.73 ± 16.79 km2 in 1980 to 72.41 ± 4.7 km2 in 2018 showing a recession of 29.32 ± 12.09 km2 during the period (28.82%). The observed glacier loss is higher (0.77 ± 0.31 km2 a-1) compared with the other Himalayan regions. The results indicated that there is strong influence of altitude, aspect, slope and climate on glacier recession. The glaciers with area ≤ 1 km2 have receded significantly more (41.20 ± 6.20%) than the larger glaciers > 3 km2 in area (15.97 ± 5.13%). The glaciers situated between 4200 and 4400 m altitudes have receded more (~ 55 ± 5.01%) than those situated at altitudes > 4800 m (~ 19 ± 6.9%). Furthermore, the glaciers with steep slope (> 25) have witnessed lower recession (0.25 ± 0.15 km2 a-1) compared to the glaciers with gentle slope (0.51 ± 0.22 km2 a-1). The south-facing glaciers showed higher recession (~ 38%) compared with the north-facing glaciers (~ 27%). The findings suggest that the increase in temperature and decline in winter solid precipitation have resulted in the glacier recession with the consequent depletion of the streamflows, which, if continued in the future, would adversely affect the economy in the region.