Glacier systems and seasonal snow cover in six major Asian river basins: water storage properties under changing climate

Savoskul, Oxana S.; Smakhtin, Vladimir U.

Glacier systems and seasonal snow cover in six major Asian river basins: water storage properties under changing climate

Autores

Savoskul, Oxana S.

Smakhtin, Vladimir U.

Editor

International Water Management Institute

Descripción

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the water storage properties of glaciers and seasonal snow, carried out for the first time at a major river basin scale, for the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Amu Darya, Syr Darya and Mekong basins. It analyzes the changes of glaciers and snow under recent climate change, i.e., between the baseline (1961-1990) and current (2001-2010) periods. The paper also addresses climate change sensitivity of glacier systems and the changes that might be expected under a warming scenario for the end of the twenty-first century.

Palabras clave

glaciers, monitoring, seasonality, snow cover, river basins, climate change, impact assessment, remote sensing, water resources, water availability, water storage, hydrological cycle, mountains, surveys, models, institutions