Abstract
Meltwater from the cryosphere determines the potential for irrigated crop cultivation in the Trans-Himalayan region of Central Ladakh. Frozen water sources include seasonal snow cover and relatively small glaciers (<0.75 km2) located at high elevation (>5200 m a.s.l.). Based on a glacier and glacial lake inventory for Central and Eastern Ladakh, this chapter presents a multi-temporal analysis of glacier changes in selected ranges and tributary valleys between 1969 and 2020. The study is based on diverse sets of remote sensing data (Corona, Landsat, and Sentinel), validated by several field campaigns carried out between 2007 and 2020. The glacier-covered area totalled 997 ± 99 km2 with more than 1800 glaciers in 2002. While regional glacier decrease is not as pronounced as in other parts of the Himalayan arc, changes of individual glaciers vary considerably between the different tributaries of the Upper Indus Basin in Ladakh. However, the consequences of even small glacier decrease may have critical impacts on the viability of irrigated crop cultivation. As the socio-hydrological system of irrigated agricultural production is entirely dependent on meltwater supply, glacier dynamics directly affect local livelihoods and sustainable land use of village communities. As a consequence of glacier retreat, proglacial lakes have formed and increased in size and volume during the observation period. A total of 126 glacial lakes (>0.005 km2) covering an area of 4.13 ± 0.48 km2 with an average size of 0.03 km2 can be identified in Central Ladakh. These lakes may cause glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) of varying magnitude, aggravating socio-hydrological risks for settlements, irrigated land use and infrastructure in the region.
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Notes
- 1.
Scale 1 yard to 4 miles, published under the direction of Thulliler, Surveyor General of India; India Atlas Sheets No. 45.
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Schmidt, S., Nüsser, M. (2023). Glaciers of Central Ladakh: Distribution, Changes and Relevance in the Indian Trans-Himalaya. In: Humbert-Droz, B., Dame, J., Morup, T. (eds) Environmental Change and Development in Ladakh, Indian Trans-Himalaya. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42494-6_2
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