Analysing contribution of precipitation into discharge for Chhota Shigri glacier, Western Himalaya, India
Student name: Ms Priyanka
Guide: Dr Prateek Sharma
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr AL. Ramanathan
Abstract: Ice has been part of the Earth’s environmental system at several points throughout
its 4.6 billion year history, and the passage of ancient ice sheets is recorded
predominantly by glaciomarine sediments deposited and preserved in a variety of
geological basins (Eyles, 2008). The Chhota Shigri glacier on the northern ridge of
Pir Panjal range western Himalayas of the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region in India is
located approximately between 32
o
11
’’
– 32
o
17
’’
North latitudes and 77
o
29
’’
– 77
o
33
’’
East longitudes on the Chandra River basin in the Lahual-spiti valley of
Himachal Pradesh. To estimate the mass contribution due to precipitation for the
discharge during ablation season and analyzing the trend between mass contribution
and precipitation, the snow cover area estimated from MODIS data was used to
relate with various meteorological variables and then the calculation for the
contribution into the discharge from precipitation was done and the results were
analysed. The trend lines of both the variables mass contribution and precipitation
are also showing the strong match with each other. This indicates that precipitation
has a significant role to play in the Chhota Shigri glacier even if it is just a small
percentage amount in contribution into the discharge during ablation season. The
future of the hydrological studies in Chhota Shigri glacier is still expanding the
horizons which will yield more evident and reliable results in the future for
estimating the extent of climate change.
Keywords: Chhota Shigri, Glacier, Snow Cover, MODIS, Himalayas
