'Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre'
Doi
Abstract
The Indian Himalayas are located between eastings 72° to 96° and the northings 26° to 37°stretching to about 43000 km2 area. There are five major ranges in this region, ie, Pir Panjal,Greater Himalayas, Zanskar, Laddakh, and Karakoram. Saltoro range is the major branch ofwidespread Karakoram ranges which falls in Indian territory. Saichen glaciers are located inSaltoro range. Percentile data of snowfall gives first-hand information about the snowfall patternin Jammu and Kashmir and Saichen glaciers, the two distinguished areas of Indian Himalayaswhich would help in prediction of avalanche activity in these areas. Western disturbanceoriginating from Caspian sea basically dictates the weather condition in this region. Westerndisturbance approaches from western side and hits Pir Panjal range and Greater Himalayan rangefirst, and then either it moves to further north or towards north-eastern region. Westerndisturbance yields maximum precipitation during winter season over north-west Himalayas, butas it moves further, it looses the moisture content, hence reducing the solid snowfall quantitybut stays for a longer duration due to extremely low temperatures observed in the region ofSaichen glaciers. The data analysis shows that the snowfall takes place in Saichen glacierthroughout the year whereas in Jammu and Kashmir area, snowfall takes place only during winterseason. Change in snowfall pattern in these two regions is attributed to the variation intemperature in these regions, movement of weather system, and the difference in altitude. In thepresent study, four locations at varied altitudes from Jammu and Kashmir area and the completeSaichen glaciers region have been covered to analyse the snowfall pattern for the period from1995-2000
