Back to news
14 Dec 2015 | Press releases

Glaciers reveal mountain precipitation is twice as high-Himalayan snowfall underestimated

2 mins Read

70% Complete

The amount of snow and rain in the Himalaya is about twice as high as commonly assumed. Research in the Indus basin by scientists from Utrecht University, FutureWater and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) led to the discovery. These findings have important bearing for water management and climate change impact assessments.

The Himalayas and adjacent mountain ranges are an important source of water for more than 25% of the global population. However, it is unknown how much snow and rain falls in those vast mountain ranges, because of the lack of observations and the inaccessibility of the terrain. Understanding how much water is available in the source areas of Asia’s large river is of crucial importance.

Let the glaciers tell the story
“The upper Indus is supposedly very dry, yet the largest glaciers outside the Polar Regions are located in the upper Indus and that seemed contradicting and gave us the idea for this study“, explains Walter Immerzeel of Utrecht University and visiting scientist at ICIMOD, who led the study. “We calculated how much precipitation is required to sustain those large glaciers and the results were spectacular. In the most extreme case a more than tenfold amount of snow is required than what was previously thought”. In order to derive this information the researchers combined satellite observations, a computer model and observations from the ground.

The rivers confirm the findings
“In the absence of snow and rain measurements at high altitude in the Indus we needed another way to confirm our findings” says Immerzeel. “We use observations of river flow and the results confirmed that the amount of water in the rivers can only be explained if the amount of snow and rain is as high as we estimated”.

Impact for water management
The Indus basin irrigation scheme is the largest in the world and it is fed primarily by melt water. “Since so much of the food production in the Indus depends on glaciers and snow, this shows again how sensitive this area is to climate change”, says Marc Bierkens, professor of Hydrology at Utrecht University. “Our findings will have important bearing on climate change impact studies and water management in this important transboundary river basin.”

Publication
Immerzeel, W. W., Wanders, N., Lutz, A. F., Shea, J. M. & Bierkens, M. F. P. Reconciling high altitude precipitation with glacier mass balances and runoff. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 12, 4755–4784 (2015). doi: 10.5194/hess-19-4673-2015

For more information contact:
Utrecht University

Dr W.W. Immerzeel, Assistant Professor
Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences
Tel: +31302533888 Cell:+31681013731
E-mail: w.w.immerzeel@uu.nl

FutureWater

Arthur Lutz, Hydrologist
Tel +31 6 19687612, E-mail: a.lutz@futurewater.nl

ICIMOD

Dr Joseph Michael Shea
Glacier Hydrologist
E-mail: joseph.shea@icimod.org

Nira Gurung
Senior Communications Officer, ICIMOD
Tel +977-1-5003222 Fax +977-1-5003277
E-mail: Nira.Gurung@icimod.org

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related contents

Continue exploring this topic

23 Jan 2016 Press releases
Bangladesh-ICIMOD partnership day 2016 – future collaboration and emerging opportunities

Bangladesh is a founding member of The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge ...

25 Apr 2016 Press releases
Young minds collaborate to solve global challenges

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Winners of the International Space Apps Challenge - Kathmandu ...

18 Jan 2015 Press releases
Symposium calls for transboundary cooperation in ‘Transforming Mountain Forestry’

‘Managing Himalayan forest ecosystems on a transboundary scale is critical for mitigating the impact of climate change for sustaining ecosystem ...

15 Feb 2017 Press releases
Climate change certificate programme for district-level officials opens in Chitwan

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Chief Guest Mr Narayan Prasad Bhatta, Chief District Officer, ...

5 Feb 2024 Press releases
Scientists have declared the Hindu Kush Himalaya, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, a ‘biosphere on the brink’

B-roll, spokespeople available ICIMOD experts call for bold action and urgent finance to prevent collapse of nature in High Mountain Asia ...

7 Jun 2024 Press releases
Scientists sound alarm: Urgent action needed to protect mountain, downstream, and low-lying regions

Bonn, Germany, Friday 7th June: Leading scientists and representatives from countries in mountain, downstream, and low-lying regions have issued an ...

10 Dec 2024 Press releases
Region’s disaster experts unite in response to rising numbers and intensity of climate-driven hazards in mountains

Kathmandu, 10 December 2024 Senior Disaster Management experts from six Hindu Kush ...