Scientific objectives and research project

In mountain environment, glaciers are one of the main components of the water resource and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) cause fatalities and severe economic damages. In the coming decades, the expected warming and increase in atmospheric aerosols in the Himalayas and in particular in the Everest region, Nepal, will lead to rapid glacier shrinkage, inducing a modification of the water resource as well as an increase of GLOF events. The ability to assess and predict the contribution of cryospheric components to water resource and glacial lake formation and evolution in High Mountain depends on our knowledge of the different processes governing glacier water budget. A major issue is due to the fact that the processes controlling the birth, enlargement, and potential outburst of glacial lake are not fully understood yet. A second issue is related to climate forcing conditions which are poorly documented. This project will directly improve our understanding of the physical mechanisms producing runoff and leading to GLOFs in the Everest region.

IRD units involved

1R25200 : IGE

Member Institutions

ICIMOD : International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Managers

M. x

Scientific disciplines

Sciences de la Terre et de l'univers, espace

Research topics

The main aim of the JEAI HIMALICE is to generate a step change in understanding of both the current state of glaciers in Everest area and predictions of their response to future climate change, together with the associated potential hazards. This aim will be achieved by creating an interdisciplinary network of glaciologists, climatologists, remote sensing scientists and numerical modellers with a common focus on mountain glaciers in this region. The network will: synthesize existing and emerging data to enhance the scope and timespan of current and future data gathering missions; develop novel techniques to address outstanding research questions; and establish a common protocol for field and satellite data gathering to identify and address unknowns in the measurement and prediction of glacier change, thereby allowing better understanding of the processes that control glacier response to climate change and reducing uncertainties in predictions of future change. A specific focus will be done on Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), a hazard that is expected to rise in the future with the shrinkage of glaciers.