Variations in snow cover and snowline altitude in Baspa Basin.

摘要

The Himalayas has one of the largest concentrations of glaciers and permanent snowfields outside the polar region. Snow and glacier melt forms an important source for many rivers originating in the Himalayas. Numerous studies suggest that global warming has started affecting snow melt and stream run-off in the Himalayan region. Monitoring the snow-cover changes is therefore essential to assess the future hydrologic cycle. Snowline altitude is an important parameter to assess future changes in snow cover. Variations in snowline altitude and snow cover for the years 2004-05 and 2006-07 between October and June for Baspa River Basin located in the Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh are reported here. The snow cover was delineated using 54 images of AWiFS senor of Resourcesat-I satellite using NDSI technique and elevation information was generated using SRTM data. About 98% of the basin area is located below the elevation of 5800 m. The average monthly snowline altitude was estimated. The lowest snowline altitude was observed as 2425 m in February 2004-05 and 2846.25 m in March in 2006-07.