Title: Glaciohydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram
Abstract: The Himalaya-Karakoram (HK) region is one of the most heavily glacierized and vulnerable mountainous regions on earth that supplies a significant amount of water to the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra River basins. The field-based studies are limited in the HK hence, remote sensing and glaciohydrological modelling provide an alternative solution to investigate the glacier mass balance and runoff evolution under the changing climate. I will present a detailed review of the glaciohydrology of the HK region that discusses the present status and recent advancements in the HK cryosphere, and highlights the critical knowledge gaps. In addition, I will also discuss the functioning of two highly glacierized representative Himalayan catchments belonging to different climatic regimes using glacier-wide Temperature-index and mass-surface Energy Balance models. The major insights of my talk would be (1) stress on the assimilation of sublimation scheme in a simplified temperature-index model, (2) the importance of basin-scale model calibration with in-situ data in large-scale studies, (3) leveraging high-resolution, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for calibration of glaciohydrological models in HK, and (4) the need for in-situ observations in high-altitude Himalayan region.
Biography: Smriti has a master’s degree in Geoinformatics, but her PhD work is about glacier mass balance and catchment hydrology using temperature index and energy balance models. She is an active member of research field expeditions on Chhota Shigri and Durung Drung glaciers in Indian Himalaya. She is working as a post-doc at the University of Utah.
To join virtually: Zoom
Contact: srivastavasmriti7@gmail.com
Website: https://faculty.utah.edu/u6047122-SMRITI_SRIVASTAVA/hm/index.hml
Recording: Zoom Recording