Automated detection and temporal monitoring of crevasses using remote sensing and their implications for glacier dynamics

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Surface mass balance analysis at Naradu Glacier, Western Himalaya, India

Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, for research grants (Ref. No. SR/DGH/HP-1/2009 and SB/DGH-92/2014). We acknowledge the facility of the DST-FIST supported GIS Laboratory of the Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Rajasthan, India, where the maps are prepared on geographical information system (ArcGIS 10.1; version 10.1 and authorization number: EFL691568009-1010). The freely available data on India shapefile (http://www.diva-gis.org/ gdata), Digital Elevation Model (DEM) at NASA Earth Data (https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/) and satellite images acquired from USGS (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) is thankfully acknowledged. The mass balance data of other parts of Himalaya has been compared, and we thankfully acknowledge the contribution of authors who made it available through their publications. The authors are grateful to the editors and reviewers for their comments/suggestions that helped us to improve the earlier version of the manuscript. The valuable input in the manuscript’s language by Dr. Richard Armstrong, National Snow and Ice Data Center, Colorado, is thankfully acknowledged. The authors acknowledge the local mountain people (Chitkul, District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh) and porters from Nepal for helping with the glacier fieldwork. We also thank the International Trans Himalayan agency for providing the necessary logistics during the fieldwork.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multivariate statistical analysis and geospatial approach for evaluating hydro‑geochemical characteristics of meltwater from Shaune Garang glacier, Himachal Pradesh, India

Acknowledgements The present support of the Department of Science and Technology as a research project (DST/CCP/NHC/159/2018(G)) became instrumental in utilizing the human resources for the analysis of the results. The financial support of the USAID project (CHARIS) for carrying out fieldwork is thankfully acknowledged. The analysis is made at the DST supported FIST Lab in the Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Rajasthan. The support is thankfully acknowledged. We would like to thank reviewers for taking the time and effort necessary to review the manuscript. We sincerely appreciate all valuable comments and suggestions which helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

The authors would like to acknowledge National Snow and Ice Data Centre, USA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA for providing freely available MODIS satellite products and Global Historical Climatology Network station data, respectively. The authors are also grateful to India Meteorology Department (IMD), India, Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB), India and Hendrik Wulf, University of Zurich, Switzerland for providing the station data. A.B. acknowledges the Swedish Research Council for supporting his research in Himalaya. M.S. acknowledges Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences and Birbal Sahni Research Associate fellowship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multitemporal glacier inventory revealing four decades of glacier changes in the Ladakh region

Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, for the lab facilities and the United States Geological Survey for the Landsat and ASTER imageries. The authors also thank Planet Labs and Google for the high resolution PlanetScope and Google Earth imageries. We are also thankful to the Scottish Funding Council and the University Of Aberdeen, United Kingdom for financially supporting our work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Small lava caves as possible exploratory targets on Mars : Analogies drawn from UAV imaging of an Icelandic lava field

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Modelling Permafrost Distribution in Western Himalaya Using Remote Sensing and Field Observations

Acknowledgments: M.A.R.K. and P.P. are thankful to the director Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun for help and support. S.S. and A.B. would like to acknowledge the University of Aberdeen Pump Prime grant to support their research in Ladakh, India. S.N.A. acknowledges the Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow for encouragement and support.This study did not receive any external funding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Himalayan glaciers experienced significant mass loss during later phases of little ice age

We express our gratitude to Prof. Sunil Bajpai, Director, BSIP for providing official permission to publish (vide BSIP/RDCC/89/2016–2017) and necessary facilities to carry out this work. We also thank the PCCFs Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and DFO Uttarkashi and other forest office staffs of the Indian Himalayan states for their help and providing necessary facilities during tree-ring sampling. We thank Mrs. Meenakshi Joshi (IFS) Uttarakhand for her insights on the topic and constructive suggestions. We thank Prof. Hans W. Linderholm and Prof. Dan J. Smith for sharing the mass balance time-series for Storglaciären (Sweden) and Canadian glaciers, respectively. M.S. acknowledges the financial support by the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi vide SERB-DST Project No. SR/FTP/ES-127/2014 [Young Scientist Scheme]. P.S.R. extends his sincere acknowledgement to SERB–DST projects SR/DGH/44/2012 and SR/DGH/56/2013 for financial support to carry out this research work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

The surface and near-surface air temperature observations are primary data for glacio-hydro-climatological studies. The in situ air temperature (Ta) observations require intense logistic and financial investments, making it sparse and fragmented particularly in remote and extreme environments. The temperatures in Himalaya are controlled by a complex system driven by topography, seasons, and cryosphere which further makes it difficult to record or predict its spatial heterogeneity. In this regard, finding a way to fill the observational spatiotemporal gaps in data becomes more crucial. Here, we show the comparison of Ta recorded at 11 high altitude stations in Western Himalaya with their respective land surface temperatures (Ts) recorded by Moderate Resolution Imagining Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Terra satellites in cloud-free conditions. We found remarkable seasonal and spatial trends in the Ta vs. Ts relationship: (i) Ts are strongly correlated with Ta (R2 = 0.77, root mean square difference (RMSD) = 5.9 °C, n = 11,101 at daily scale and R2 = 0.80, RMSD = 5.7 °C, n = 3552 at 8-day scale); (ii) in general, the RMSD is lower for the winter months in comparison to summer months for all the stations, (iii) the RMSD is directly proportional to the elevations; (iv) the RMSD is inversely proportional to the annual precipitation. Our results demonstrate the statistically strong and previously unreported Ta vs. Ts relationship and spatial and seasonal variations in its intensity at daily resolution for the Western Himalaya. We anticipate that our results will provide the scientists in Himalaya or similar data-deficient extreme environments with an option to use freely available remotely observed Ts products in their models to fill-up the spatiotemporal data gaps related to in situ monitoring at daily resolution. Substituting Ta by Ts as input in various geophysical models can even improve the model accuracy as using spatially continuous satellite derived Ts in place of discrete in situ Ta extrapolated to different elevations using a constant lapse rate can provide more realistic estimates

Rising winter temperatures might augment increasing wheat yield in Gangetic Plains

Acknowledgements We express our gratitude to Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Prasad, Director, BSIP, for providing official permission to publish (vide: BSIP/RDCC/Publication no.23/2019-2020) and necessary facilities to carry out this work. PSR and MS acknowledge the in-house Project-8 of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.Peer reviewedPostprin