Articles | Volume 10, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2203-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2203-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
23 Sep 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 23 Sep 2016
Quantifying ice loss in the eastern Himalayas since 1974 using declassified spy satellite imagery
Joshua M. Maurer
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), Palisades, NY 10964, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University,
New York, New York 10027, USA
Summer B. Rupper
University of Utah, Department of Geography, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Joerg M. Schaefer
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), Palisades, NY 10964, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University,
New York, New York 10027, USA
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Cited
54 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Debris Emergence Elevations and Glacier Change J. Shea et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.709957
- Brief communication: Glaciers in the Hunza catchment (Karakoram) have been nearly in balance since the 1970s T. Bolch et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-531-2017
- Interannual flow dynamics driven by frontal retreat of a lake-terminating glacier in the Chinese Central Himalaya Q. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116450
- Regime Shifts in Glacier and Ice Sheet Response to Climate Change: Examples From the Northern Hemisphere S. Marshall https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.702585
- Recent 50-Year Glacier Mass Balance Changes over the Yellow River Source Region, Determined by Remote Sensing M. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246286
- Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Supra-Glacial Ponds and Ice Cliffs on Verde Glacier, Chile T. Loriaux & L. Ruiz https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.681071
- Suspended sediment dynamics in the meltwater of Chhota Shigri glacier, Chandra basin, Lahaul-Spiti valley, India V. Singh & A. Ramanathan https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4554-1
- New evidence of glacier surges in the Central Andes of Argentina and Chile D. Falaschi et al. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133318803014
- Thirty years of environmental change reduces local, but not regional, diversity of riverine fish assemblages in a Himalayan biodiversity hotspot D. Gillette et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109427
- Evaluating high-resolution remote sensing data for reconstructing the recent evolution of supra glacial debris R. Azzoni et al. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133317749434
- Hydro-geochemical analysis of meltwater draining from Bilare Banga glacier, Western Himalaya R. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-019-00262-w
- Shrinking Himalayan glaciers: Glacier inventory, glacial cover mapping and changes in Eastern Himalayas, India V. Ritse et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-024-02490-1
- Annual to seasonal glacier mass balance in High Mountain Asia derived from Pléiades stereo images: examples from the Pamir and the Tibetan Plateau D. Falaschi et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5435-2023
- Acceleration of ice loss across the Himalayas over the past 40 years J. Maurer et al. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav7266
- State of Himalayan cryosphere and implications for water security A. Kulkarni et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2021.100101
- Quantifying glacier mass change and its contribution to lake growths in central Kunlun during 2000–2015 from multi-source remote sensing data Y. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.01.007
- Automated Processing of Declassified KH-9 Hexagon Satellite Images for Global Elevation Change Analysis Since the 1970s A. Dehecq et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.566802
- Identifying urban built-up areas using CORONA imagery in the pre-Landsat era: a case study of Shanghai in 1965 S. Li https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2024.2326044
- Reconstruction of specific mass balance for glaciers in Western Himalaya using seasonal sensitivity characteristic(s) V. Gaddam et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0839-6
- Toward improved comparability of glacier mass-balance estimates: Challenges and recommendations R. Hock et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2026.10158
- Accelerated glacier mass loss in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau since the 1970s L. Luo et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2023.04.007
- Glacier area change (1993–2019) and its relationship to debris cover, proglacial lakes, and morphological parameters in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin, Western Himalaya, India S. Vatsal et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8277-1
- Escalating Extremes: Unraveling Climate Change's Threat to Assam’s Weather Systems D. Das https://doi.org/10.55544/ijrah.5.6.26
- Enhanced light absorption by ambient brown carbon aerosols in the eastern Himalayas B. Arun et al. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EA00021H
- Investigating the bias of TanDEM-X digital elevation models of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau: impacting factors and potential effects on geodetic mass-balance measurements J. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.15
- Land- to lake-terminating transition triggers dynamic thinning of a Bhutanese glacier Y. Sato et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2643-2022
- Towards automated mapping and monitoring of potentially dangerous glacial lakes in Bhutan Himalaya using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data S. Wangchuk et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2019.1569789
- Contrasting thinning patterns between lake- and land-terminating glaciers in the Bhutanese Himalaya S. Tsutaki et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2733-2019
- Applications of SPOT-7 tri-stereo imagery in deriving the surface topography and mass changes of glaciers in Indian Himalaya V. Gaddam et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2019.1648567
- Proglacial Lakes Control Glacier Geometry and Behavior During Recession J. Sutherland et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088865
- Agricultural Land Abandonment in Bulgaria: A Long-Term Remote Sensing Perspective, 1950–1980 M. Kabadayı et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101855
- Transitioning from equilibrium of glacier mass balance in the Upper Bhagirathi Valley, Central Himalaya S. Halder et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rines.2025.100100
- Geodetic glacier mass balance (1975–1999) in the central Pamir using the SRTM DEM and KH-9 imagery Y. ZHOU et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.8
- Glacier changes on the Nanga Parbat 1856–2020: A multi-source retrospective analysis M. Nüsser & S. Schmidt https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147321
- Glacial lake changes and the identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes (PDGLs) under warming climate in the Dibang River Basin, Eastern Himalaya, India R. Ahmed et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2134461
- Surface lowering of the debris-covered area of Kanchenjunga Glacier in the eastern Nepal Himalaya since 1975, as revealed by Hexagon KH-9 and ALOS satellite observations D. Lamsal et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2815-2017
- A doubling of glacier mass loss in the Karlik Range, easternmost Tien Shan, between the periods 1972–2000 and 2000–2015 Z. Wan et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.76
- Spatially resolved estimates of glacial retreat and lake changes from Gepang Gath Glacier, Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya, India V. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1718-y
- Climate change and water scarcity will increase risk of nuclear catastrophe in South Asia A. Asokan & I. Helfand https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2022.2087382
- Assessing controls on mass budget and surface velocity variations of glaciers in Western Himalaya S. Bhushan et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27014-y
- Glacier mass balance in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and its surroundings from the mid-1970s to 2000 based on Hexagon KH-9 and SRTM DEMs Y. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.03.020
- Characterizing 4 decades of accelerated glacial mass loss in the west Nyainqentanglha Range of the Tibetan Plateau S. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-933-2023
- Monitoring the dynamics of Bara Shigri glacier using Synthetic Aperture Radar data of Sentinel-1 satellite and effect of climate on mass balances S. Das et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2021.11.006
- Revisiting Topographic Horizons in the Era of Big Data and Parallel Computing J. Dozier https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2021.3125278
- Co-Registration Methods and Error Analysis for Four Decades (1979–2018) of Glacier Elevation Changes in the Southern Patagonian Icefield P. Vacaflor et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040820
- Study of the patterns of ice lake variation and the factors influencing these changes in the western Nyingchi area M. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0623
- Glacier Mass Balance Changes Over the Turgen Daban Range, Western Qilian Shan, From 1966/75 to 2020 S. Xu et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.848895
- Mass Loss From Calving in Himalayan Proglacial Lakes C. Watson et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00342
- Estimating the Changes in Glaciers and Glacial Lakes in the Xixabangma Massif, Central Himalayas, between 1974 and 2018 from Multisource Remote Sensing Data Y. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13193903
- Glacier anomaly over the western Kunlun Mountains, Northwestern Tibetan Plateau, since the 1970s Y. WANG et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.53
- Multi-decadal geomorphic changes of a low-angle valley glacier in the East Kunlun Mountains: remote sensing observations and detachment hazard assessment X. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2791-2021
- Quantifying Geodetic Mass Balance of the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefields Since 1976 M. McDonnell et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.813574
- Glacier changes monitoring in Bhutan High Himalaya using remote sensing technology M. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2019.255
- An optimized method to calculate the geodetic mass balance of mountain glaciers R. BASANTES-SERRANO et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.79
54 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Debris Emergence Elevations and Glacier Change J. Shea et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.709957
- Brief communication: Glaciers in the Hunza catchment (Karakoram) have been nearly in balance since the 1970s T. Bolch et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-531-2017
- Interannual flow dynamics driven by frontal retreat of a lake-terminating glacier in the Chinese Central Himalaya Q. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116450
- Regime Shifts in Glacier and Ice Sheet Response to Climate Change: Examples From the Northern Hemisphere S. Marshall https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.702585
- Recent 50-Year Glacier Mass Balance Changes over the Yellow River Source Region, Determined by Remote Sensing M. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246286
- Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Supra-Glacial Ponds and Ice Cliffs on Verde Glacier, Chile T. Loriaux & L. Ruiz https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.681071
- Suspended sediment dynamics in the meltwater of Chhota Shigri glacier, Chandra basin, Lahaul-Spiti valley, India V. Singh & A. Ramanathan https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4554-1
- New evidence of glacier surges in the Central Andes of Argentina and Chile D. Falaschi et al. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133318803014
- Thirty years of environmental change reduces local, but not regional, diversity of riverine fish assemblages in a Himalayan biodiversity hotspot D. Gillette et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109427
- Evaluating high-resolution remote sensing data for reconstructing the recent evolution of supra glacial debris R. Azzoni et al. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133317749434
- Hydro-geochemical analysis of meltwater draining from Bilare Banga glacier, Western Himalaya R. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-019-00262-w
- Shrinking Himalayan glaciers: Glacier inventory, glacial cover mapping and changes in Eastern Himalayas, India V. Ritse et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-024-02490-1
- Annual to seasonal glacier mass balance in High Mountain Asia derived from Pléiades stereo images: examples from the Pamir and the Tibetan Plateau D. Falaschi et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5435-2023
- Acceleration of ice loss across the Himalayas over the past 40 years J. Maurer et al. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav7266
- State of Himalayan cryosphere and implications for water security A. Kulkarni et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2021.100101
- Quantifying glacier mass change and its contribution to lake growths in central Kunlun during 2000–2015 from multi-source remote sensing data Y. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.01.007
- Automated Processing of Declassified KH-9 Hexagon Satellite Images for Global Elevation Change Analysis Since the 1970s A. Dehecq et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.566802
- Identifying urban built-up areas using CORONA imagery in the pre-Landsat era: a case study of Shanghai in 1965 S. Li https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2024.2326044
- Reconstruction of specific mass balance for glaciers in Western Himalaya using seasonal sensitivity characteristic(s) V. Gaddam et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0839-6
- Toward improved comparability of glacier mass-balance estimates: Challenges and recommendations R. Hock et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2026.10158
- Accelerated glacier mass loss in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau since the 1970s L. Luo et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2023.04.007
- Glacier area change (1993–2019) and its relationship to debris cover, proglacial lakes, and morphological parameters in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin, Western Himalaya, India S. Vatsal et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8277-1
- Escalating Extremes: Unraveling Climate Change's Threat to Assam’s Weather Systems D. Das https://doi.org/10.55544/ijrah.5.6.26
- Enhanced light absorption by ambient brown carbon aerosols in the eastern Himalayas B. Arun et al. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EA00021H
- Investigating the bias of TanDEM-X digital elevation models of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau: impacting factors and potential effects on geodetic mass-balance measurements J. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.15
- Land- to lake-terminating transition triggers dynamic thinning of a Bhutanese glacier Y. Sato et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2643-2022
- Towards automated mapping and monitoring of potentially dangerous glacial lakes in Bhutan Himalaya using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data S. Wangchuk et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2019.1569789
- Contrasting thinning patterns between lake- and land-terminating glaciers in the Bhutanese Himalaya S. Tsutaki et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2733-2019
- Applications of SPOT-7 tri-stereo imagery in deriving the surface topography and mass changes of glaciers in Indian Himalaya V. Gaddam et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2019.1648567
- Proglacial Lakes Control Glacier Geometry and Behavior During Recession J. Sutherland et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088865
- Agricultural Land Abandonment in Bulgaria: A Long-Term Remote Sensing Perspective, 1950–1980 M. Kabadayı et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101855
- Transitioning from equilibrium of glacier mass balance in the Upper Bhagirathi Valley, Central Himalaya S. Halder et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rines.2025.100100
- Geodetic glacier mass balance (1975–1999) in the central Pamir using the SRTM DEM and KH-9 imagery Y. ZHOU et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.8
- Glacier changes on the Nanga Parbat 1856–2020: A multi-source retrospective analysis M. Nüsser & S. Schmidt https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147321
- Glacial lake changes and the identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes (PDGLs) under warming climate in the Dibang River Basin, Eastern Himalaya, India R. Ahmed et al. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2134461
- Surface lowering of the debris-covered area of Kanchenjunga Glacier in the eastern Nepal Himalaya since 1975, as revealed by Hexagon KH-9 and ALOS satellite observations D. Lamsal et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2815-2017
- A doubling of glacier mass loss in the Karlik Range, easternmost Tien Shan, between the periods 1972–2000 and 2000–2015 Z. Wan et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.76
- Spatially resolved estimates of glacial retreat and lake changes from Gepang Gath Glacier, Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya, India V. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1718-y
- Climate change and water scarcity will increase risk of nuclear catastrophe in South Asia A. Asokan & I. Helfand https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2022.2087382
- Assessing controls on mass budget and surface velocity variations of glaciers in Western Himalaya S. Bhushan et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27014-y
- Glacier mass balance in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and its surroundings from the mid-1970s to 2000 based on Hexagon KH-9 and SRTM DEMs Y. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.03.020
- Characterizing 4 decades of accelerated glacial mass loss in the west Nyainqentanglha Range of the Tibetan Plateau S. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-933-2023
- Monitoring the dynamics of Bara Shigri glacier using Synthetic Aperture Radar data of Sentinel-1 satellite and effect of climate on mass balances S. Das et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2021.11.006
- Revisiting Topographic Horizons in the Era of Big Data and Parallel Computing J. Dozier https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2021.3125278
- Co-Registration Methods and Error Analysis for Four Decades (1979–2018) of Glacier Elevation Changes in the Southern Patagonian Icefield P. Vacaflor et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040820
- Study of the patterns of ice lake variation and the factors influencing these changes in the western Nyingchi area M. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0623
- Glacier Mass Balance Changes Over the Turgen Daban Range, Western Qilian Shan, From 1966/75 to 2020 S. Xu et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.848895
- Mass Loss From Calving in Himalayan Proglacial Lakes C. Watson et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00342
- Estimating the Changes in Glaciers and Glacial Lakes in the Xixabangma Massif, Central Himalayas, between 1974 and 2018 from Multisource Remote Sensing Data Y. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13193903
- Glacier anomaly over the western Kunlun Mountains, Northwestern Tibetan Plateau, since the 1970s Y. WANG et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.53
- Multi-decadal geomorphic changes of a low-angle valley glacier in the East Kunlun Mountains: remote sensing observations and detachment hazard assessment X. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2791-2021
- Quantifying Geodetic Mass Balance of the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefields Since 1976 M. McDonnell et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.813574
- Glacier changes monitoring in Bhutan High Himalaya using remote sensing technology M. Kumar et al. https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2019.255
- An optimized method to calculate the geodetic mass balance of mountain glaciers R. BASANTES-SERRANO et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.79
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 09 Aug 2026
Short summary
Here we utilize declassified spy satellite imagery to quantify ice volume loss of glaciers in the eastern Himalayas over approximately the last three decades. Clean-ice and debris-covered glaciers show similar magnitudes of ice loss, while calving glaciers are contributing a disproportionately large amount to total ice loss. Results highlight important physical processes affecting the ice mass budget and associated water resources in the Himalayas.
Here we utilize declassified spy satellite imagery to quantify ice volume loss of glaciers in...
