Abstract
Supraglacial debris influences the glacier-climate relationship by altering the ablation patterns of the debris-covered glaciers. The intricate surface morphology of debris-covered glaciers renders difficulties in their assessment through satellite remote sensing alone. In this context, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the advantage of providing ultra-high-resolution maps of the debris-covered glacier surfaces, thus, aid in inferring the complexity in their behavior. Considering the limitations and to help elucidate the morpho-dynamic evolution of the debris-covered glacier surface, an in-depth investigation is conducted on the Panchi Nala-A glacier (area: 3 km2; debris percentage: 60%; and thickness: 4–60 cm), Bhaga basin, western Himalaya, using hybrid remote sensing data (declassified Corona, Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI, Planetscope, and UAV-based optical images) during 1971–2021. The results indicate shrinkage (0.3 ± 0.03%a−1) and terminal retreat (3 ± 0.6 ma−1) of the glacier, with increasing debris extent (0.1 ± 0.0001%a−1) during 1971–2021, in sync with the temperature increase and snowfall reduction during 1983–2016. The glacier velocity has reduced, however, trivially (0.6 ± 6 ma−1) during 1993–2021, with stagnation in the lower ablation zone (velocity < 5ma−1). The glacier thinned consistently during 2000–2018 (− 0.5 ± 0.055 ma−1) and 2019–2021 (− 0.48 ± 0.013 ma−1) in the lower ablation zone, with glacier-wide thinning rates of − 0.12 ± 0.055 ma−1 during 2000–2018. The comprehensive picture suggests that the glacier changes are possibly influenced by debris distribution, however, are not substantial and have remained consistent, indicative of its near-stable condition. This glacier response may further change depending on ice cliffs and supraglacial pond dynamics, which have shown a rise of 3.8 times and 86%, respectively, during the recent period between 2019 and 2021.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to convey their sincere thanks to the Defense Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Govt of India, for providing the meteorological data of the Patsio region. The authors also thank the USGS Earth Explorer data portal (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) and Planet Lab (https://www.planet.com/) for providing free access to the satellite data, used in this study. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge the two anonymous referees for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript.
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Siddi Garg designed the study and led the writing of the manuscript with contributions from Navin Kumar, Ajay Godara, and RAAJ Ramsankaran. Navin Kumar, Ajay Godara, Rakesh Sahu, and RAAJ Ramsankaran executed the UAV-based field survey. Navin Kumar and Ajay Godara performed the UAV-based analysis and wrote the relevant sections pertained to UAV data. Dhiraj Kumar Singh provided and analyzed the meteorological data. RAAJ Ramsankaran secured the funding and provided the resources and supervised the entire study. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Garg, S., Navinkumar, P.J., Godara, A. et al. Remote sensing the evolution of debris-covered Panchi Nala-A glacier, India (1971-2021) from satellites and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Reg Environ Change 23, 103 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02096-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02096-1