Siri Jodha Khalsa: Assessing role of glaciers and seasonal snow hydrology of mountains of high Asia

Establishing a Collaborative Effort to Assess the Role of Glaciers and Seasonal Snow Cover in the Hydrology of the Mountains of High Asia (a.k.a. CHARIS)

R. Armstrong, M. Williams, A. Barrett, M. J. Brodzik, F. Fetterer, Siri Jodha S. Khalsa, A. Racoviteanu, A. Rasmussen, B. Raup, A. Wilson, U. Horodyskyj http://nsidc.org/charis 1

THE NATIONAL SNOW AND ICE DATA CENTER (NSIDC) UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER

2

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

The National Snow and Ice Data Center‌ Manages and distributes scientific data

Researches the cryosphere and data science

3

Supports data users

Provides tools for data access

Supports local and traditional knowledge

Educates the public about the cryosphere

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

instaar.colorado.edu

@instaar 4

• Conducts interdisciplinary (cryosphere, climate, hydrology, ecology and biochemistry) research in polar and alpine regions

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

CHARIS Project Outline • • • • • •

5

Geographic coverage Goals Asian Partners Data sources Methods Validation

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Geographic Coverage = “High Asia”

River Basins:

Brahmaputra Ganges Indus Amu Darya Syr Darya Partner Countries:

Bhutan Nepal India Pakistan Afghanistan Kazakhstan Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan 6

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

CHARIS Project Goals CHARIS: Contribution to High Asia Runoff from Ice and Snow • In collaboration with CHARIS’ Asian Partners, this project will make fundamental contributions to an improved understanding of the water resources of High Asia.

• The amount, timing and spatial patterns of snow and ice melt are important in providing water for downstream irrigation, hydropower generation and general consumption.

• The specific goal is to perform a systematic assessment of the individual contributions of seasonal snow melt and glacier ice melt to water resources across the study region, using the best available data sources and methods.

7

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

CHARIS Project Goals CHARIS: Contribution to High Asia Runoff from Ice and Snow

Q

Glacier ?

Snow ?

Rain?

Groundwater ?

t

8

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Data Sources • Elevation: SRTM, SPOT, ASTER, Topographical Maps • Glacier coverage: GLIMS, MODICE • Seasonal snow cover: Gapfilled daily MODIS • Catchment basin outlines: GRDC, watershed analysis • River discharge data: GRDC and Project Partners • Reanalysis products (NASA MERRA, ECMWF ERA-Interim, NCEP CFSR): T, q, P • Surface Albedo: MODIS, in situ

9

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Evaluation • SRTM • Global 90m resolution • Voids common in mountainous terrain • Several groups have released using different strategies for void filling and hydrologic conditioning • Stereoscopy from satellite image pairs • Individual scenes (ASTER, SPOT, Corona. Etc.) • Global ASTER-based DEM • 30m resolution • Composite of many scenes • Automated, has undetected errors • ICESat data for vertical biases and horizontal offsets

10

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Elevation – GDEM2

11

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

GDEM Hillshade

"mole runs"

12

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Elevation – GDEM2

13

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Elevation – CGIAR version of SRTM final

14

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Elevation – HydroSHEDs version of SRTM

15

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

SRTM Voids

16

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Methods • Glaciers: In addition to using glacier outlines from the GLIMS database (http://nsidc.org/glims), we determine the annual residual coverage of ice across the study area using a consistent, automated remote sensing method, MODICE. • Seasonal snow cover: We generate daily gap-filled snow cover for the study region derived from the MODIS standard 500m snow product. • We estimate the separate contributions of seasonal snow melt and glacier ice melt to basin discharge across the study region using enhanced degree-day, ablation gradient, and other melt models.

17

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

18

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Annual snow cover frequency: 2001 to 2011 MODIS Tiles h23v05 h24v05 h25v06

Barrett, et al., American Geophysical Union Annual Fall Meeting, 2012 HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Time series of snow covered area in select basins across HKH

Barrett, et al., American Geophysical Union Annual Fall Meeting, 2012

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Inter-annual variability of snow melt runoff Â

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Melt Model Validation • Compare regional scale results with small sub-basin studies based on local scale meteorological inputs and more sophisticated energy balance modeling approaches. • Compare regional scale assessments with results in selected sub-basins using isotopic and geochemical tracers in hydrologic mixing models; also estimate the contribution of groundwater and rainfall to these rivers using the same mixing models.

22

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Snow and Ice Albedo • Surface energy input, and thus melt rate, are functions of albedo • Can vary from .9 for new snow to .2 for old or dirty snow • Variability in region being investigated • MOD43 time series at locations across Himalaya • Spatial variations mapped with field spectroradiometer • Temporal variations monitored at a weather station on Ngozumpa Glacier in the Khumbu region o o o

23

Time‐lapse camera Up and down-looking pyranometers Air temperature and humidity

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

MOD43 Albedo time series - Eastern Himalaya

24

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

MOD43 Albedo time series - Western Himalaya

25

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

CHARIS Partner Workshop in Almaty – May 2013

26

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

Summary • CHARIS is leading a trans-national effort to improve our understanding of regional water resources in High Asia.

• While transferring knowledge and skills to Project Partners we also engage in joint research activities, such as cooperative field studies and model development.

• We will freely share the tools and techniques that are developed by CHARIS.

27

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013

The CHARIS Team thanks you for your attention –

http://nsidc.org/charis

28

HMGWP Workshop, Huaraz, Peru, July 2013