Monitoring and Estimation of Glacial Resource of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques | Pakistan Journal of Meterology 2012

Author(s)

A. Ashraf Water Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan

R. Naz Water Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan

R. Roohi Water Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

The agriculture and hydropower development in Pakistan is heavily dependant on the snow and glacial resource of Upper Indus Basin. Baseline information of this resource is essential for future management of water resources and economic development of the area. The satellite remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were utilized for developing base data of glacial resource of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The study revealed that there are over 224 glaciers containing ice-reserves of about 4.9 cubic km mainly in the Neelum valley district of AJK area. The glaciers predominantly belong to Cirque and Mountain types. Average thickness of the glaciers is about 24m. The glaciated area stretches over 109 sq km i.e. about 0.8% of the total Kashmir area. The coverage of glaciers and lakes is dominant over 4000-4500 m elevation range. There are altogether 76 glacial lakes that cover an aggregate area of about 545 ha in the study area. Majority of these lakes belong to Erosion and Cirque types. The image interpretation techniques of remote sensing helped in identification of glaciers and glacial lakes in the high mountainous terrain of the Kashmir area. In order to conserve glacial resources for future use, their regular monitoring is required for effective water resource management and development especially in context of probable increase in global warming in this part of the Himalayan region.

Publication Details

Page(s) 31-41

DOI DOI not available

Published Journal: Pakistan Journal of Meterology, Volume: 8, Issue: 16, Year: 2012

Keywords

Keywords are not available for this article.

References

Ashraf A.,Naz R.,Roohi R. .2012 .Monitoring and estimation of glacial resource of Azad Jammu and Kashmir using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Pakistan Journal of Meteorology, 816 : .

Citations

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