Glacial lake outburst floods in the Halji region, Nepal

Network Project

Halji village in north-western Nepal has been severely affected by six glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) since 2004. Based on previous studies and ongoing meteorological measurements by an automatic weather station on the Halji glacier from where the GLOFs have been released, the project addresses three research questions: (1) Which topographic, atmospheric, cryospheric and hydrospheric preconditions and processes are leading to GLOFs on the Halji Glacier? (2) What determines temporal variability of GLOF occurrence in the Halji region? (3) How is GLOF occurrence in the Halji region linked to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region? The research questions shall be answered by new long-term data on atmospheric forcing and subsequent modelling of cryospheric and hydrospheric processes. A field campaign to the Halji glacier shall serve to maintain and extend the field observations. The field data provide crucial input and validation data for numerical model simulations on atmospheric conditions, glacier mass balance and meltwater routing, and on snowdrift.

More information on the project can be found here.

WaterClimate