Himalayan Geology, Vol. 42 (2), 2021, pp. 336-344, Printed in India
Volume estimation of glaciers in Upper Alaknanda Basin, Garhwal Himalaya using numerical and scaling methods with limited field based data
ADITYA MISHRA1*, H.C. NAINWAL1, D.P. DOBHAL2, R. SHANKAR3
1Department of Geology, H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
2Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
3The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India
*Email (Corresponding author): mishraaditya557@gmail.com
Abstract: The ice volume is an important parameter for quantifying fresh water stored in the Himalayan cryosphere. It is an important input to model the glacier dynamics and consequently estimate the future glacier melt contributions to the rise in sea level and changes in the river flows. While there are large uncertainties in the estimates of total ice volume, even less is known about its distribution at the basin scale. In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the volume of glaciers of Upper Alaknanda Basin (UAB), Garhwal Himalaya, using statistical power scaling and slope dependent numerical methods with input from remote sensing data. We have mapped 166 glaciers (area >0.02 km2) in UAB covering total glacierised area of ~363±12 km2 using remote sensing data and have used the above mentioned methods to estimate the ice volume. We have checked the consistency of these results with the limited data of estimates of the ice volume of individual glaciers using other methods. We present estimates of the ice volume of Satopanth glacier (SPG) based on previous measurements of the ice thickness using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) studies supplemented by more recent observations. The estimated ice volume of SPG is approximately 2.1 km3. The total glacier volume of UAB is estimated by different methods ranges from 20.5±1.4 to 35.5±2.1 km3 with an average 26.1±4.5 km3. We compare this estimate with the estimated ice volume of other Himalayan basins.
Keywords: Glacier thickness, Ice Volume, GPR profiling, Himalayan Glaciers, Upper Alaknanda Basin
