Department Of Geography

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Browsing Department Of Geography by Author "Bahuguna, I.M."

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    Decadal terminus position changes and ice thickness measurement of Menthosa Glacier in Lahaul region of North-Western Himalaya
    (Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2021-06-05T00:00:00) Prakash, Satya; Sharma, Milap Chand; Sreekesh, S.; Chand, Pritam; Pandey, Vijendra Kumar; Latief, Syed Umer; Deswal, Sanjay; Manna, Ishita; Das, Suresh; Mandal, Sandip Tanu; Bahuguna, I.M.
    Glacier ice-thickness measurement and distribution is one of the essential variables to assess present status of glacier-water equivalent and its volumetric reserve as well as to model the future glacier dynamics under the climate changing scenario. Yet, substantial gaps in ice thickness information exist for the Himalayan glaciers. The present study provides a long-term assessment (1965�2016) of recessional and area change patterns, as well as the detailed field-based (2016�2017) Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR), derived ice-thickness measurement of the Menthosa Glacier, Lahaul Himalaya. Additionally, the study examines whether the modelled ice thickness from remote sensing data is consistent with the field-based GPR measurement and how can it be improved. The extensive field surveys coupled with the multi-temporal high (Corona KH-4A) to medium resolution (Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ (ETM+)/Operational Land Imager (OLI), Sentinel 2A-Multispectral Instrument (MSI)) remote sensing data and cross-sectional GPR surveyed profile measurements have been used to examine past half a century (1965�2016) glacier fluctuation and the recent ice-thickness estimations, respectively. The results show that the Menthosa Glacier receded by 301.5 � 19.2 m during the past half a century (1965�2016) with an average annual retreat of 5.9 � 0.4 m a?1, whereas glacier lost 0.09 km2 ice in the frontal section. Field measurement over the past one decade (2006�2017) also conforms to a continuous recessional pattern and substantial glacier degeneration particularly the extensive surface lowering and significant appearance of ice-cliffs in the ablation and lateral zones over this period. The GPR measurements (2017) show the minimum glacier ice thickness of 24 meters at 4691 m a.s.l. (in the lower part of ablation area) and maximum glacier ice thickness of 55 meters measured at 4758 m a.s.l. (in the upper left-side tributary part of ablation area). Moreover, the modelled ice thickness derived from remotely sensed data is having Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between 38 to 72 � 10 m as compared with GPR measured ice thickness. � 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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    Reconstruction of post-little ice age glacier recession in the Lahaul Himalaya, north-west India
    (Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2022-12-13T00:00:00) Deswal, Sanjay; Sharma, Milap Chand; Saini, Rakesh; Chand, Pritam; Prakash, Satya; Kumar, Pawan; Barr, Iestyn David; Latief, Syed Umer; Dalal, Padma; Bahuguna, I.M.
    Understanding past glaciation and deglaciation is vital for assessing present-day glacier dynamics and response to climate change. We focus on reconstructing past glacier fluctuations in Lahaul, north-west India, a region located between arid Ladakh and the humid the Pir-Panjal range. We focus specifically on six glaciers in the Miyar and Thirot catchments of varying size, aspect and debris cover. To reconstruct past terminus fluctuations of these glaciers, we used repeat terrestrial photography and historical archives as data sets and mapped the terminus positions and latero-terminal moraines in the field along with glacier terminus mapping from high to medium resolution satellite images (e.g. Corona, Hexagon, Landsat and LISS IV). Results show that since the little ice age, all the studied glaciers have experienced terminus retreat and area loss, with average values of 1.46 and 0.9 km2, respectively. Precipitation data show a statistically significant decreasing trend during the last century with an increasing trend in annual average maximum (T max) and minimum (T min) temperature. This warming trend is more statistically significant for T min. Although total ice loss at the six studied glaciers is considerable (5.48 km2), this varies both spatially (i.e. from glacier to glacier) and temporally. We attribute this variability to topographic controls such as glacier hypsometry and another non-climatic factor, i.e. varying degree of debris cover. � 2022 Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography.