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Glaciers in the upper Indus supply more than half of the river water, are experiencing significant melting with a debated fate
. The recent melting rate is still contained by considerable uncertainties, hindering to estimate precise glacier mass change. Here we present geodetic mass balance results for the whole Indus Basin using SRTM and ALOS 30 m elevation data, improved glacier inventory, optimized glacier surface density, and validation through in-situ differential GPS and ICESat data. Our glacier inventory and derived by improving RGI6.0 boundaries and separated into debris cover and debris free parts. The derived surface elevation changes were converted into annual mass balances using separated density assumptions (four criteria) for debris-covered ice (900 ± 60 kg m−3), debris-free ice (below 20° and 25° slopes (850 ± 60 kg m−3) and above 20° and 25° slopes (600 ± 60 kg m−3)), respectively. The resulting mass balance biased between −0.20 and 0.09 m water equivalent (w.e.) a-1 using an average (850 ± 60 kg m−3) density assumption throughout the Indus Basin. In the western Himalaya and Hindu Kush, the glacier mass losses are less affected by the average density assumption compared to the Karakoram. The western (Hunza) and central (Shigar) Karakoram glaciers show negligible mass losses of −0.02 ± 0.12 and −0.01 ± 0.13 m w.e. a−1 in contrast to the relatively more negative mass balance (−0.26 ± 0.21 m w.e. a−1) in the eastern (Shyok) Karakoram. All the sub-basins exhibit negative mass balances, with the most negative values ranging from −0.34 ± 0.31 to 0.44 ± 0.27 m w.e. a−1 in the Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum sub-basins of the Himalaya. The whole Indus Basin contributes approximately +0.014 ± 0.016 mm a−1 to the global mean sea-level equivalent
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Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) hosted the fourth Climate Change Adaptation Policy & Science (CCAPS) conference from February 26th-27th, 2018 in Islamabad, Pakistan
. CCAPS conference is a series of events held annually by HI-AWARE. The conference aimed to build a platform for adaptation and resilience research and facilitated exchange of knowledge and ideas on science, policy and good practices related to climate change adaptation in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region and especially in Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra River Basins. The first, second and third CCAPS conferences were held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2015, Delhi, India in 2016, and Dhaka Bangladesh in 2017 respectively
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Cundill, G.; Harvey, B.; Tebboth, M.; Cochrane, L.; Currie-Alder, B.; Vincent, K.; Lawn, J.; Nicholls, R. J.; Scodanibbio, L.; Prakash, A.; New, M.; Wester, P.; Leone, M.; Morchain, D.; Ludi, E.; Demaria-Kinney, J.; Khan, A.; Landry, M.-E.
An increasing number of research programs seek to support adaptation to climate change through the engagement of large-scale transdisciplinary networks that span countries and continents
. While transdisciplinary research processes have been a topic of reflection, practice, and refinement for some time, these trends now mean that the global change research community needs to reflect and learn how to pursue collaborative research on a large scale. This paper shares insights from a seven-year climate change adaptation research program that supports collaboration between more than 450 researchers and practitioners across four consortia and 17 countries. The experience confirms the importance of attention to careful design for transdisciplinary collaboration, but also highlights that this alone is not enough. The success of well-designed transdisciplinary research processes is also strongly influenced by relational and systemic features of collaborative relationships. Relational features include interpersonal trust, mutual respect, and leadership styles, while systemic features include legal partnership agreements, power asymmetries between partners, and institutional values and cultures. In the new arena of large-scale collaborative science efforts, enablers of transdisciplinary collaboration include dedicated project coordinators, leaders at multiple levels, and the availability of small amounts of flexible funds to enable nimble responses to opportunities and unexpected collaborations
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Precipitation in the high-altitude Indus basin governs its renewable water resources affecting water, energy and food securities
. However, reliable estimates of precipitation climatology and associated hydrological implications are seriously constrained by the quality of observed data. As such, quantitative and spatio-temporal distributions of precipitation estimated by previous studies in the study area are highly contrasting and uncertain. Generally, scarcity and biased distribution of observed data at the higher altitudes and measurement errors in precipitation observations are the primary causes of such uncertainties. In this study, we integrated precipitation data of 307 observatories with the net snow accumulations estimated through mass balance studies at 21 major glacier zones. Precipitation observations are adjusted for measurement errors using the guidelines and standard methods developed under the WMO's international precipitation measurement intercomparisons, while net snow accumulations are adjusted for ablation losses using standard ablation gradients. The results showed more significant increases in precipitation of individual stations located at higher altitudes during winter months, which are consistent with previous studies. Spatial interpolation of unadjusted precipitation observations and net snow accumulations at monthly scale indicated significant improvements in the quantitative and spatio-temporal distribution of precipitation over the unadjusted case and previous studies. Adjustment of river flows revealed only a marginal contribution of net glacier mass balance to river flows. The adjusted precipitation estimates are more consistent with the corresponding adjusted river flows. The study recognized that the higher river flows than the corresponding precipitation estimates by the previous studies are mainly due to underestimated precipitation. The results can be useful for water balance studies and bias correction of gridded precipitation products for the study area
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In this study, groundwater quality of an alluvial aquifer in the western Ganges basin is assessed using a GIS-based groundwater quality index (GQI) concept that uses groundwater quality data from field survey and laboratory analysis
. Groundwater samples were collected from 42 wells during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods of 2012 and analysed for pH, EC, TDS, Anions (Cl, SO4, NO3), and Cations (Ca, Mg, Na). To generate the index, several parameters were selected based on WHO recommendations. The spatially variable grids of each parameter were modified by normalizing with the WHO standards and finally integrated into a GQI grid. The mean GQI values for both the season suggest good groundwater quality. However, spatial variations exist and are represented by GQI map of both seasons. This spatial variability was compared with the existing land-use, prepared using high-resolution satellite imagery available in Google earth. The GQI grids were compared to the land-use map using an innovative GIS-based method. Results indicate that the spatial variability of groundwater quality in the region is not fully controlled by the land-use pattern. This probably reflects the diffuse nature of land-use classes, especially settlements and plantations
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Ishaq, S.; Ahmad, B.; Kamran, A.; Raza, N.; Khan, M. A.; Virk, Z. T.; Doger, S. S.; Jamil, M. K.; Mustafa, N.; Mahmood, T.; Hassan, M.
This working paper is aimed at finding out the climate change adaptations going on across the three HI-AWARE Project Sites in Indus Basin, namely Hunza (High mountains), Soan Basin (Mid hill) and Chaj Doab ( Flood plains)
. Both autonomous and planned adaptations have been enlisted after thoroughly reviewing published and grey literature. Some focus group discus-sions and key informant interviews were also held in order to know about people experiences, perceptions and existing practices that they are carrying out to sustain their livelihood
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The article analyzes Tidal River Management in Bangladesh from a social learning perspective
. Four cases were investigated using participatory assessment. Knowledge acquisition through transformations in the Tidal River Management process was explored as an intended learning outcome. The study finds that social learning occurred more prominently at the individual stakeholder level and less at the collective level. For Tidal River Management to be responsive and sustainable, especially in times of increased uncertainty and climate vulnerability, more attention needs to be paid to coordination and facilitation of multi-level learning that includes all stakeholders
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The cryosphere constitutes an important subset of the hydrosphere
. The Himalayan cryosphere is a significant contributor to the hydrological budget of a large river system such as the Ganges. Basic data on the cryosphere in the Himalaya is inadequate and also has large uncertainties. The data on glacial melt component in the Himalayan rivers of India also shows high variability. The Gangotri glacier which constitutes nearly a fifth of the glacierized area of the Bhagirathi basin represents one of the fastest receding, large valley glaciers in the region which has been surveyed and monitored for over sixty years. The availability of measurement over a long period and relatively small glacier-fed basin for the Bhagirathi river provides suitable constraints for the measurement of the glacial melt fraction in a Himalayan river. Pre- and post-monsoon samples reveal a decreasing trend of depletion of d18O in the river water from glacier snout (Gaumukh) to the confluence of the Bhagirathi river with the Alaknanda river near Devprayag. Calculations of existing glacial melt fraction (~30% at Rishikesh) are not consistent with the reported glacial thinning rates. It is contended that the choice of unsuitable end-members in the three component mixing model causes the overestimation of glacial melt component in the river discharge. Careful selection of end members provides results (~11% at Devprayag) that are consistent with the expected thinning rates
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The present study is an attempt to explore the association between kitchen indoor air pollutants and physiological profiles in kitchen workers with microalbuminuria (MAU) in north India (Lucknow) and south India (Coimbatore)
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The study investigates Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) and their range resource condition within the preferred habitat in the Central Karakoram National Park, Pakistan
. We apply ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA) using 110 ibex sighting data and 6 key biophysical variables describing the habitat conditions and produce habitat suitability and maps with GIS and statistical tool (BioMapper). The modeling results of specialization factor shows some limitation for ibex over the use of slope, elevation, vegetation types and ruggedness. The habitat area selection for the ibex is adjusted to the ibex friendly habitat available conditions. The model results predicted suitable habitat for ibex in certain places, where field observation was never recorded. The range resource dynamics depict a large area that comes under the alpine meadows has the highest seasonal productivity, assessed by remote sensing based fortnightly vegetation condition data of the last 11 years. These meadows are showing browning trend over the years, attributable to grazing practices or climate conditions. At lower elevation, there are limited areas with suitable dry steppes, which may cause stress on ibex, especially during winter
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