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Supraglacial Lake Classification in the Everest Region of Nepal Himalaya

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Geospatial Techniques for Managing Environmental Resources

Abstract

Climate change has been linked to widespread retreats and recent disappearances of small glaciers in mountainous regions such as the Patagonia, Andes, Alps and Himalaya (Dyurgerov and Meier, 2000; Fujita et al., 2006; Kargel et al., 2005; Oerlemans, 2005; Paul, Kaab et al., 2004; Racoviteanu et al., 2008; Thakur, 2010). Alpine glaciers are particularly sensitive to changes in climate due to their proximity to melting conditions, wide altitude range, and variability in debris cover (Haeberli et al., 2007; Racoviteanu et al., 2008). Alpine glacial retreat in response to climate change and recent warming trends may have severe hydroecological consequences to surrounding communities (Kehrwald et al., 2008; Milner et al., 2009). The recession of glaciers has been further linked to increases in glacier-related hazards in high mountainous areas such as avalanches, glacial lake outburst floods and debris flows which can increasingly threaten human lives, settlements, and infrastructure (Huggel et al., 2002; Quincey et al., 2005). This has necessitated the assessment and monitoring of potentially hazardous glacial lakes through the use of remote sensing, especially in high mountainous areas due to inaccessibility and lack of field surveys (Quincey et al., 2005).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clark Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA

    Prajjwal K. Panday & Bardan Ghimire

  2. Central Connecticut State University, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT, 06050, USA

    Henry Bulley

  3. Department of Geology, University of Dayton, 300 College Park Avenue, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA

    Umesh Haritashya

Authors
  1. Prajjwal K. Panday
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  2. Henry Bulley
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  3. Umesh Haritashya
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  4. Bardan Ghimire
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology Institute of Geosciences and Geography, Martin Luther University, Halle, Saale, Germany

    Jay Krishna Thakur  & Wolfgang Gossel  & 

  2. Centre of Atmospheric and Ocean Science KBCAOS, IIDS, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India

    Sudhir Kumar Singh

  3. School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    AL. Ramanathan

  4. Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA

    M. Bala Krishna Prasad

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Panday, P.K., Bulley, H., Haritashya, U., Ghimire, B. (2011). Supraglacial Lake Classification in the Everest Region of Nepal Himalaya. In: Thakur, J.K., Singh, S.K., Ramanathan, A., Prasad, M.B.K., Gossel, W. (eds) Geospatial Techniques for Managing Environmental Resources. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1858-6_6

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