Snow cover area change and its relations with climatic variability in Kashmir Himalayas, India

Abstract

Snowmelt makes an essential component of the hydrological system of Kashmir Himalayas. The present study was carried out to examine the status of Snow Cover Area (SCA) using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 8-day Snow Cover Product between 2000 and 2016. The intra- and inter-annual variability in SCA and in meteorological parameters was observed and various statistical tests were used to study the interrelationship. Results of statistical analysis indicate decrease in maximum temperature (−0.05 °C/year) and minimum temperatures (−0.02 °C/year) while rise in precipitation (19.13 mm/year). It also showed an increase in annual mean SCA (43.5 sq km) during the study period. The analysis was also carried out on a seasonal basis. The results revealed that in Kashmir Himalayas, climate plays a dominating role in controlling the SCA. The results depict the short-term fluctuations in SCA and show the magnitude of change between two successive values being very large in SCA.

Keywords:

• MODIS
• SCA
• climate variability
• Kashmir Valley

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to IMD centre Srinagar and NDC, IMD Pune for providing the meteorological data. NASA is acknowledged for maintaining MODIS data available in public domain at their website. The authors acknowledge the financial support of University Grants Commission (UGC) to first author in the form of grants made available under NET-JRF Scheme. Thanks are also to Professor Lulla, Editor of the Journal and the anonymous reviewers whose insightful comments helped to improve this manuscript.