Enhancing Snow Data for Snowmelt Runoff Forecasts in the Indus Basin

About the event

The three-day programme focuses on improving snow data for direct use in the Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM). It is designed for technical staff from GMRC and WAPDA working in cryosphere, hydrology, and water resources planning. The training responds to increasing needs for reliable meltwater estimates under rapidly changing snow conditions in the Upper Indus Basin.

The programme combines concise conceptual sessions with intensive hands-on exercises. Participants will learn practical, step-by-step methods to access, preprocess, and improve remote-sensing–based snow products (e.g., cloud-gap filling, removing overestimation) and validate them using high-resolution observations.

By the end of the programme, participants are expected to independently generate, validate, and manage SRM-ready snow datasets for snow situation assessments. A follow-up training in 2026 will cover the design and implementation of the SRM model for selected sub-basins of the Upper Indus Basin.

Objectives of the training

• Build the capacity of GMRC and WAPDA participants to independently access, preprocess, and analyse snow data for seasonal and long-term assessment.
• Strengthen participants’ skills in analysing snow datasets and comparing multiple products for quality control and validation against observations.
• Provide structured hands-on exercises that walk participants through the full workflow—from raw snow data to an SRM-ready product.

Background

The cryosphere of High Mountain Asia, particularly seasonal snow and glaciers in the Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalaya (HKH) is a critical freshwater source for downstream communities in Pakistan. Snowmelt contributes substantially to river flows supporting irrigation, hydropower, and domestic supply across the Indus Basin.

A warming climate is altering snowfall patterns, snow persistence, and the timing and magnitude of meltwater. This has implications for water availability and hydro-meteorological hazards.

For national agencies such as the Glacier Monitoring and Research Centre (GMRC) and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), reliable and up-to-date snow information is essential for hydrological tools like SRM. While remote sensing provides frequent snow observations, challenges remain around data quality, resolution, cloud cover, and sensor limitations.

Strengthening institutional capacity to generate, validate, and operationally apply improved snow datasets is a key step toward more reliable flow estimation, seasonal outlooks, and climate-risk assessments for Pakistan’s water and energy sectors. This training builds on ICIMOD’s long-standing collaboration with GMRC and WAPDA to address these needs.