Articles | Volume 15, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4465-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4465-2021
Research article
 | 
24 Sep 2021
Research article |  | 24 Sep 2021

Mapping seasonal glacier melt across the Hindu Kush Himalaya with time series synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Corey Scher, Nicholas C. Steiner, and Kyle C. McDonald

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Short summary
Time series synthetic aperture radar enables detection of seasonal reach-scale glacier surface melting across continents, a key component of surface energy balance for mountain glaciers. We observe melting across all areas of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) cryosphere. Surface melting for the HKH lasts for close to 5 months per year on average and for just below 2 months at elevations exceeding 7000 m a.s.l. Further, there are indications that melting is more than superficial at high elevations.