Spatio-temporal behaviour of Nehnar Glacier from 1962 to 2017, Jhelum basin, Kashmir Himalayas, India

ABSTRACT

Nehnar glacier is located in the Sindh sub-basin of the Jhelum River in the Kashmir Himalayas. We studied the dynamic response of the glacier (area, snout, Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA), specific mass balance, volume) using Survey of India (SOI) toposheets and Landsat imagery series from 1962 to 2017. The results show that this glacier has lost an area of 1.4 km² (50.35%) during this period of 55 years. The snout position and ELA have risen significantly, with varying rates at different time intervals. The specific mass balance of the glacier changed from −2.3 cm water equivalent (w.e.) to −35.1 cm w.e. during this period, with a loss of glacier volume from 0.17 km³ to 0.07 km³. Annual mean maximum (Tmax) and mean minimum (Tmin) temperatures show significant increases, whereas an insignificant decrease in precipitation has been recorded from 1980 to 2016. The continuous glacier retreat will have a significant impact on streamflow, agriculture, and other sectors of the Kashmir Himalayas.

KEYWORDS:

• Nehnar
• Kashmir Himalayas
• ELA
• Climate
• Glacier retreat

Acknowledgments

The acknowledgements are due to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Srinagar and National Data Centre, Pune for necessary meteorological data. The authors would like to thank the USGS and Survey of India for necessary satellite and topographic data. First author is thankful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi for support in the form of UGC-NETJRF fellowship scheme. Pervez Ahmed thanks support of MOES & NCAOR under HiCOM initiative for financial support. Thanks are also to anonymous reviewers and Yingkui Li, Associate Editor of the journal for their valuable suggestions and insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Grants Commission [3164/ (NET-DEC. 2014)].