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

The presence and extent of permafrost in the Himalaya, which is a vital component of the cryosphere, remains severely under-researched with its future climatic-driven trajectory only partly understood and the future consequences on high-altitude ecosystem tentatively sketched out. Previous studies a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-11, Vol.13 (21), p.4403
Main Authors: Khan, Md Ataullah Raza, Singh, Shaktiman, Pandey, Pratima, Bhardwaj, Anshuman, Ali, Sheikh Nawaz, Chaturvedi, Vasudha, Ray, Prashant Kumar Champati
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air temperature
Annual variations
Barren lands
Climate change
Climatic conditions
Cold
Cryosphere
Field investigations
Field tests
Geomorphology
High altitude
High temperature
Hydrology
Land use
MODIS
Permafrost
Precipitation
Radiation
Rain
Remote sensing
Satellite observation
Snow
Solar radiation
Standard deviation
Temperature
Topography
Weather
Western Himalaya
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Summary:The presence and extent of permafrost in the Himalaya, which is a vital component of the cryosphere, remains severely under-researched with its future climatic-driven trajectory only partly understood and the future consequences on high-altitude ecosystem tentatively sketched out. Previous studies and available permafrost maps for the Himalaya relied primarily upon the modelled meteorological inputs to further model the likelihood of permafrost. Here, as a maiden attempt, we have quantified the distribution of permafrost at 30 m grid-resolution in the Western Himalaya using observations from multisource satellite datasets for estimating input parameters, namely temperature, potential incoming solar radiation (PISR), slope, aspect and land use, and cover. The results have been compared to previous studies and have been validated through field investigations and geomorphological proxies associated with permafrost presence. A large part of the study area is barren land (~69%) due to its extremely resistive climate condition with ~62% of the total area having a mean annual air temperature of (MAAT)
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs13214403