Long term mass and energy balance monitoring of Nepalese glaciers (GLACIOCLIM project): Mera and Changri Nup glaciers ICIMOD IRD collaboration Cryosphere team Who? o o o o The cryosphere team of ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal. The IRD CHyC team (Cryosphere, Hydrosphere and Climate of the mountains) of LGGE and LTHE (Glaciology and Hydrology laboratories), Grenoble, France. DHM (Department of Hydrology and Meteorology), Kathmandu, Nepal. Consortium Ev K2 CNR/NAST (Italy Nepal), Kathmandu, Nepal. A joint collaboration has been initiated in 2007 between all these parties through the GLACIOCLIM project. Since September 2012, Patrick Wagnon (IRD researcher) has been joining the cryosphere team in ICIMOD as a visiting scientist for a 4 year period. Why? The main objectives of this project are: o To build a database to study the glaciers as climatic indicators, in the Himalayan region. o To analyze the glacier contribution to the river runoff, in highly glacierized basins. What is GLACIOCLIM? GLACIOCLIM (GLACIers, an Observatory of the CLIMate) is a world wide monitoring network funded by the French government making long term glacio hydro meteorological observations on selected glaciers representative of various climatic environments. Figure 1 gives the location of all glaciers monitored in GLACIOCLIM (2 glaciers in South America: tropical climate; 5 glaciers in the Alps: temperate climate, 3 glaciers in Himalaya: Asian monsoon climate and 2 parts of Antarctica: polar climate). Which network in Himalaya? Three glaciers have been monitored in Himalaya: o Chhota Shigri Glacier (Himachal Pradesh, India: arid monsoon transition zone). This glacier has been monitored since 2002, under an IRD JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi) collaboration.
o o Mera Glacier (Hinku valley, Nepal: monsoon climate). This debris free glacier has been monitored since 2007, under a DHM IRD collaboration first, and then including ICIMOD. Changri Nup Glacier (Khumbu valley, Nepal: monsoon climate). This debris covered glacier has been monitored since 2010, under a joint IRD EvK2CNR/NAST ICIMOD collaboration. Figure 2 provides a map of the Himalaya showing the location of the 3 glaciers monitored with GLACIOCLIM project, as well as the regional pluviometry. Figure 3 shows the location of Mera and Changri Nup glaciers in eastern Nepal (Dudh Koshi basin). Which measurements are performed regularly? o Glaciological monitoring to get the seasonal glacier wide mass balance (i.e. volume variation) of the glacier. This includes ablation stake measurements, as well as accumulation drillings performed every year, in April and November, at various elevations from the snout to the highest part of the glacier. o Meteorological monitoring using automatic weather stations (AWS) located outside the glacier on a nearby moraine to record long term meteorological trends (Temperature, short wave and long wave radiations, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, atmospheric pressure ) as well as on the glacier surface in the middle of the ablation zone to understand the processes governing the melt. o DGPS measurements are performed every year in November/December to get the annual displacement of every ablation stake (annual surface velocity), and to measure the annual thickness change at different transversal profiles selected at various elevations. Figure 4 is a map of Mera Glacier showing the ablation stake network, the accumulation sites and the AWS located at the glacier surface at 5360 m a.s.l. to study the annual cycle of the surface energy balance in order to understand the melting processes. In 2013, we are planning to install a second AWS located on a moraine nearby to get long term meteorological trends. Figures 5 and 6 are pictures showing an ablation stake installation on Changri Nup Glacier and accumulation measurement on Mera Glacier. Since most of the ablation areas of Nepalese glaciers are debris covered, Changri Nup Glacier has been selected as a benchmark debris covered glacier. Figures 7 and 8 are pictures of the AWS on Mera and Changri Nup glaciers respectively. Figure 9 is a picture of DGPS measurements performed on Mera Glacier at 6350 m a.s.l. in November 2012, in the highest part of the glacier. Which measurements are performed occasionally? o Ground penetrating radar measurements have been conducted in 2009 and 2012 on Mera Glacier, and in 2011 on Changri Nup Glacier (Figure 10). o A deep ice core drilling is planned in 2014 or 2015 on Mera Glacier, in order to study the paleo climate of this region.
Some results With 10 years of in situ mass balance monitoring, Chhota Shigri Glacier has one of the longest continuous ground based mass balance series ever recorded in the Himalayas. This series has been extended in the past using in situ geodetic measurements to compare with a map surveyed in 1988. In Lahaul and Spiti Region (Northern India), glaciers have been stable or even have been experiencing a slight mass gain during the nineties before starting to shrink [Vincent et al., In Press]. References Azam, F. M., P. Wagnon, A. Ramanathan, C. Vincent, P. Sharma, Y. Arnaud, A. Linda, J. G. Pottakkal, P. Chevallier, V. B. Singh, E. Berthier, From balance to imbalance: a shift in the dynamical behaviour of Chhota Shigri Glacier (Western Himalaya, India), J. Glaciol., 58 (208), 315 324, doi:10.3189/2012jog11j123, 2012. Berthier E., Arnaud Y., Rajesh K., Sarfaraz A., Wagnon P., & Chevallier P., Remote sensing estimates of glacier mass balances in the Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalaya, India). Remote Sensing Environ., 108(3), 327 338, 2007. Lejeune, Y., J. M. Bertrand, P. Wagnon & S. Morin, A physically based model for the year round energy and mass balance of debris covered glaciers, J. Glaciol., In press. Vincent, C., Al. Ramanathan, P. Wagnon, D.P. Dobhal, A. Linda, E. Berthier, P. Sharma, Y. Arnaud, M. F. Azam, P.G. Jose & J. Gardelle, Balanced conditions or slight mass gain of glaciers in the Lahaul and Spiti region (Northern India, Himalaya) during the nineties preceded glacier shrinkage, The Cryosphere, In press Wagnon, P., A. Linda, Y. Arnaud, R. Kumar, P. Sharma, C. Vincent, J. Pottakal, E. Berthier, A. Ramanathan, S.I; Hasnain & P. Chevallier, Four years of mass balance of Chhota Shigri glacier (Himachal Pradesh, India), a new benchmark glacier in western Himalaya, J. Glaciol., 53(183), 603 610, 2007. Acknowledgements ICIMOD, DHM and IRD are the leading institutions in this project and are greatly acknowledged here. Field work is usually carried out within the framework of the Ev K2 CNR Project in collaboration with the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology as foreseen by the Memorandum of Understanding between Nepal and Italy, and thanks to contributions from the Italian National Research Council, the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All people involved in the field or helping for logistical support at the Pyramid, in Kathmandu, in France or in Italy are greatly acknowledged here.
French Alps (LGGE) Saint Sorlin, Argentière (45 N) Gébroulaz, Mer de Glace, Sarennes Andes / Himalaya (IRD et local partners) Antizana (Ecuador, 0 ) Zongo (Bolivia, 16 S) Chhota Shigri (India, 32 N) Mera (Nepal, 27 N) Changri Nup (Nepal, 28 N) Antarctica (LGGE-IPEV) Cap Prud Homme (67 S) Dôme C (75 S) Figure 1: GLACIOCLIM, a global network for long term glacio meteo hydrological observations. In 2013, this network is >50 years old in the Alps, >20 years old in the Andes, 10 years old in Himalaya and 8 years old in Antarctica.
Figure 2: Location of the glaciers monitored in the framework of the GLACIOCLIM Himalaya project
Changri Nup Mera Figure 3: Map of the high Dudh Koshi basin (in grey in the inset Nepal map and with limits represented by the dashed black line in the main map) where Mera and Changri Nup glaciers are located (large red squares). Glaciers are represented in blue. The small red square is Pokalde Glacier where some ablation stakes are also surveyed. (Courtesy E. Berthier).
Figure 4: Map of Mera Glacier showing the ablation stake network (black circles), the accumulation sites (blue squares) and the AWS at 5360 m a.s.l. This glacier is 5 km 2, flows from 6430 m to 4950 m a.s.l. and is mostly North orientated. (Courtesy E. Berthier).
Figure 5: Installation of an ablation stake on Changri Nup Glacier, October 2010. Everest is visible in the background. P. Wagnon
Figure 6: Manual drilling performed at 5800 m a.s.l. to measure the net annual accumulation on Mera Glacier in November 2010. P. Wagnon
Figure 7: AWS on Mera Glacier, at 5360 m a.s.l., November 2010. Makalu is visible in the background. P. Wagnon
Figure 8: AWS on the debris covered part of Changri Nup Glacier, at 5360 m a.s.l., October 2010. Everest is visible in the background. P. Wagnon
Figure 9: DGPS measurement performed on Mera Glacier, at 6350 m a.s.l., November 2012. Everest is visible in the background. P. Wagnon
Figure 10: Ground penetrating radar measurement performed on Changri Nup Glacier, at 5500 m a.s.l., November 2011. P. Wagnon
Direct measurements with the glaciological method Satellite-built DEM substraction Field geodetic measurements using an old 1988 map Cumulated Mass Balance (m w.e.) 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Figure 11: Cumulative mass balance between 1988 and 2011 on Chhota Shigri Glacier derived from different methods. Adapted from Vincent et al. [In Press].