Sharad Joshi, (Coordinator CMP-B) Associate Glaciologist/ICIMOD, Phuntsho Tshering, Sr. Geologist, NCHM, Tshering Tashi, Sr. Hydromet Officer, NCHM, Sudan Maharjan, Remote sensing Analyst/ICIMOD, Finu Shrestha, Research Associate/ICIMOD during the training. Photo: Jitendra Bajracharya

According to Tshering Tashi, Senior Hydromet Officer at Bhutan’s National Center of Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), Bhutan has very little information on the impact of glacier melt on downstream activities, even though all of its hydropower plants are powered by glacier-fed river runoff. To help address this issue, and as part of its institutional capacity-building effort under the Cryosphere Monitoring Programme-Bhutan (CMP-B) project, two professionals from NCHM were trained in geodetic glacier mass balance monitoring from 9 to 13 April 2018 at the headquarters of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, Nepal, including theoretical presentations and hands-on exercises using in-situ and remote sensing data of the benchmark glacier.

CMP-B is a collaboration between ICIMOD and NCHM to implement long-term cryosphere monitoring and data collection in Bhutan. CMP-B has also enhanced the competence of national partners through trainings on both in-situ and remote sensing data collection and analysis. Under CMP-B, several past trainings have focused on data collection methods and post-processing but this was the first time that a major part of the training focused on analytical skills.

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