Hydrology and Glaciers in the Upper Indus Basin
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Wescoat_Hydrology and.pdf
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1.41 MB
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Author(s)
Yu, Winston
Yang, Yi-Chen
Savitsky, Andre
Alford, Donald
Brown, Casey
Wescoat, James
Debowicz, Dario
Robinson, Sherman
Date Issued
April 2013
Journal
The Indus Basin of Pakistan: The Impacts of Climate Risks on Water and Agriculture
Publisher
The World Bank
Citation
Yu, Winston, Yi-Chen Yang, Andre Savitsky, Donald Alford, Casey Brown, James Wescoat, Dario Debowicz, and Sherman Robinson. “Hydrology and Glaciers in the Upper Indus Basin.” The Impacts of Climate Risks on Water and Agriculture (April 18, 2013): 57–76. © International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Examines the state of the science associated with the snow and ice hydrology in the Upper Indus Basin (IUB), reviewing the literature and data available on the present and projected role of glaciers, snow fields, and stream flow. Considerable speculation but little analysis exists concerning the importance of glaciers in the volume and timing of flow in the Indus River and its tributaries, as well as on the potential impact of climate change on these rivers. A simple model estimates that glacier runoff contributes approximately 18 percent of the total flow, making melt water from the winter snowpack the most probable source for a majority of the remaining 82 percent, and leaving future runoff regimes to be determined primarily by changes in winter precipitation and summer temperatures. To improve the hydrologic predictability of the UIB requires major investment in snow and ice hydrology monitoring stations, further scientific research, and forecasting.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
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Creative Commons Attribution
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1596/9780821398746_CH03
