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Heterogeneity in Fluctuations of Glacier with Clean Ice-Covered, Debris-Covered and Proglacial Lake in the Upper Ravi Basin, Himachal Himalaya (India), During the Past Four Decades (1971–2013)

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Abstract

Comprehensive multi-temporal observations of Himalayan glaciers during the past half century indicate the continuous shrinkage of most of the glaciers. In addition to this, the present study analyses the fluctuations of glacier with clean ice-covered, debris-covered and proglacial lake in the upper Ravi basin, Himachal Himalaya (India), from 1971 to 2013 using high-resolution satellite datasets with supplement of field observations for selected glaciers. The study reveals the heterogeneity in fluctuations of glacier as higher terminus and frontal area change for the clean ice-covered glaciers compared to debris-covered glaciers. Field measurements for selected glaciers also suggest a retreating trend and validate the measured glacier changes using remotely sensed temporal data. Glacier retreat rates especially for debris-covered glaciers in the Ravi basin were lower than previously reported for selected glaciers in the similar basin and other basins of the Himachal Himalaya.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the University Grant Commission, New Delhi, for the financial support for this work. The authors are also grateful to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, for providing the research facilities. We also thank USGS for providing Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI and Corona data. The first author is grateful to Mr. Bruce Raup, GLIMS (http://www.glims.org/), for providing ASTER data for this research at no cost. The first author acknowledges Dr. Rakesh Bhambri for his valuable suggestions during the preparation of this manuscript.

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  1. Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Pritam Chand, Milap Chand Sharma & Ram Nagesh Prasad

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  1. Pritam Chand
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  2. Milap Chand Sharma
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  3. Ram Nagesh Prasad
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Correspondence to Pritam Chand .

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  1. Department of Geography, Delhi School of, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    RB Singh

  2. CEN Center for Earth System Research and, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Udo Schickhoff

  3. Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Suraj Mal

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Chand, P., Sharma, M.C., Prasad, R.N. (2016). Heterogeneity in Fluctuations of Glacier with Clean Ice-Covered, Debris-Covered and Proglacial Lake in the Upper Ravi Basin, Himachal Himalaya (India), During the Past Four Decades (1971–2013). In: Singh, R., Schickhoff, U., Mal, S. (eds) Climate Change, Glacier Response, and Vegetation Dynamics in the Himalaya. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28977-9_9

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