Articles | Volume 18, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-525-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-525-2024
Research article
 | 
08 Feb 2024
Research article |  | 08 Feb 2024

Seasonal to decadal dynamics of supraglacial lakes on debris-covered glaciers in the Khumbu region, Nepal

Lucas Zeller, Daniel McGrath, Scott W. McCoy, and Jonathan Jacquet

Related authors

Evaluating L-band InSAR snow water equivalent retrievals with repeat ground-penetrating radar and terrestrial lidar surveys in northern Colorado
Randall Bonnell, Daniel McGrath, Jack Tarricone, Hans-Peter Marshall, Ella Bump, Caroline Duncan, Stephanie Kampf, Yunling Lou, Alex Olsen-Mikitowicz, Megan Sears, Keith Williams, Lucas Zeller, and Yang Zheng
The Cryosphere, 18, 3765–3785, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3765-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3765-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Benn, D., Bolch, T., Hands, K., Gulley, J., Luckman, A., Nicholson, L., Quincey, D., Thompson, S., Toumi, R., and Wiseman, S.: Response of debris-covered glaciers in the Mount Everest region to recent warming, and implications for outburst flood hazards, Earth-Sci. Rev., 114, 156–174, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.008, 2012. a
Benn, D. I., Wiseman, S., and Hands, K. A.: Growth and drainage of supraglacial lakes on debris-mantled Ngozumpa Glacier, Khumbu Himal, Nepal, J. Glaciol., 47, 626–638, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756501781831729, 2001. a
Bolch, T., Buchroithner, M. F., Peters, J., Baessler, M., and Bajracharya, S.: Identification of glacier motion and potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the Mt. Everest region/Nepal using spaceborne imagery, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 8, 1329–1340, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-8-1329-2008, 2008. a
Brun, F., Wagnon, P., Berthier, E., Jomelli, V., Maharjan, S. B., Shrestha, F., and Kraaijenbrink, P. D. A.: Heterogeneous Influence of Glacier Morphology on the Mass Balance Variability in High Mountain Asia, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 124, 1331–1345, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004838, 2019. a
Chen, F., Zhang, M., Guo, H., Allen, S., Kargel, J. S., Haritashya, U. K., and Watson, C. S.: Annual 30 m dataset for glacial lakes in High Mountain Asia from 2008 to 2017, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 741–766, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-741-2021, 2021. a, b, c, d, e
Download
Short summary
In this study we developed methods for automatically identifying supraglacial lakes in multiple satellite imagery sources for eight glaciers in Nepal. We identified a substantial seasonal variability in lake area, which was as large as the variability seen across entire decades. These complex patterns are not captured in existing regional-scale datasets. Our findings show that this seasonal variability must be accounted for in order to interpret long-term changes in debris-covered glaciers.
Share