Isoscape of surface runoff in high mountain catchments: An alternate model for meteoric water characterization and its implications

Author(s):  
Bibhasvata Dasgupta ◽  
Ajay Ajay ◽  
Anurag Kumar ◽  
Meloth Thamban ◽  
Prasanta Sanyal
Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Atif ◽  
Iqbal ◽  
Su

Water scarcity is influencing environmental and socio-economic development on a global scale. Pakistan is ranked third among the countries facing water scarcity. This situation is currently generating intra-provincial water disputes and could lead to transboundary water conflicts. This study assessed the future water resources of Astore basin under representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios using fully distributed TOPographic Kinematic APproximation and Integration (TOPKAPI) model. TOPKAPI model was calibrated and validated over five years from 1999–2003 with a Nash coefficient ranging from 0.93–0.97. Towards the end of the 21st century, the air temperature of Astore will increase by 3°C and 9.6 °C under the RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, respectively. The rise in air temperature can decrease the snow cover with Mann Kendall trend of –0.12%/yr and –0.39%/yr (p ≥ 0.05) while annual discharge projected to be increased 11% (p ≤ 0.05) and 37% (p ≥ 0.05) under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. Moreover, the Astore basin showed a different pattern of seasonal shifts, as surface runoff in summer monsoon season declined further due to a reduction in precipitation. In the spring season, the earlier onset of snow and glacier melting increased the runoff due to high temperature, regardless of the decreasing trend of precipitation. This increased surface runoff from snow/glacier melt of Upper Indus Basin (UIB) can potentially be utilized to develop water policy and planning new water harvesting and storage structures, to reduce the risk of flooding.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1045-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandan Sarangi ◽  
Yun Qian ◽  
Karl Rittger ◽  
L. Ruby Leung ◽  
Duli Chand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Pratima Pandey ◽  
S. Nawaz Ali ◽  
Vikram Sharma ◽  
Prashant K. Champati Ray

Thermokarst (Thaw) lakes are landforms found in topographic depressions created by thawing ground ice in permafrost zones. They play an important role in the regulation of climatic functions. These lakes are a manifestation of warming surface temperatures that accelerates the ice-rich permafrost to degrade by creating marshy hollows/ponds. In the current global warming scenario, the thermokarst lakes in the high mountain regions (Himalaya) are expected to grow further. This accelerate permafrost thawing which will affect the carbon cycle, hydrology and local ecosystems. This phenomenon has attracted huge scientific attention because it has led to a rapid mass change of glaciers in the region, including extensive changes occurring on peri-glacial environments. The most striking fact is the release of an enormous amount of greenhouse gases, including methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide that is locked in these lakes. The present study delves into the thermokarst lakes in the upper reaches of Chandra Valley and Western Himalaya. The study also aims at designating the impact of their changes on the ecosystem, particularly their influence on the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Philip Brick ◽  
Kent Woodruff

This case explores the Methow Beaver Project (MBP), an ambitious experiment to restore beaver (Castor canadensis) to a high mountain watershed in Washington State, USA. The Pacific Northwest is already experiencing weather regimes consistent with longer term climate projections, which predict longer and drier summers and stronger and wetter winter storms. Ironically, this combination makes imperative more water storage in one of the most heavily dammed regions in the nation. Although the positive role that beaver can play in watershed enhancement has been well known for decades, no project has previously attempted to re-introduce beaver on a watershed scale with a rigorous monitoring protocol designed to document improved water storage and temperature conditions needed for human uses and aquatic species. While the MBP has demonstrated that beaver can be re-introduced on a watershed scale, it has been much more difficult to scientifically demonstrate positive changes in water retention and stream temperature, given hydrologic complexity, unprecedented fire and floods, and the fact that beaver are highly mobile. This case study can help environmental studies students and natural resource policy professionals think about the broader challenges of diffuse, ecosystem services approaches to climate adaptation. Beaver-produced watershed improvements will remain difficult to quantify and verify, and thus will likely remain less attractive to water planners than conventional storage dams. But as climate conditions put additional pressure on such infrastructure, it is worth considering how beaver might be employed to augment watershed storage capacity, even if this capacity is likely to remain at least in part inscrutable.


2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (0) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Eivind Østbye ◽  
Torgrim Breiehagen ◽  
Ivar Mysterud ◽  
Kjartan Østbye
Keyword(s):  

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (0) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eivind Østbye ◽  
Olav Hogstad ◽  
Kjartan Østbye ◽  
Leif Lien ◽  
Erik Framstad ◽  
...  

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