TY - JOUR

T1 - Trends for snow cover and river flows in the Pamirs (Central Asia)

AU - Chevallier, Pierre

AU - Pouyaud, B.

AU - Moja¨ısky, M.

AU - Bolgov, M.

AU - Olsson, Oliver

AU - Bauer, M.

AU - Froebrich, J.

PY - 2012/1/3

Y1 - 2012/1/3

N2 - In the often discussed Aral Sea basin (Central Asia), water availability depends essentiallyon the high mountains located in its eastern part, especially from the Pamir AlayRange where the Vakhsh and Pyandj Rivers, the main tributaries of the Amu Darya5 River, flow. In this region, the cryosphere, glaciers, and snow cover significantly impactthe water cycle and the flow regime, which could be deeply modified by climatechange. The present study, part of a project funded by the EU FP6, analyzes the hydrologicalsituation in six benchmark basins covering areas between 1800 and 8400 km2,essentially located in Tajikistan, with a variety of topographical situations, precipitation10 amounts, and glacierized areas. Four types of parameter are discussed: temperature,glaciers, snow cover, and river flows. Two time periods are considered: (i) a long timeseries ending in the 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and based on fieldobservations and data collection; (ii) a May 2000 to May 2002 interval, using scarcemonitored data and satellite information to follow snow cover dynamics. The results15 confirm the global homogeneous trend of temperature increase in the mountain rangeand its impacts on the surface water regimes. Concerning the snow cover, significantdifferences are noted regarding the location, the elevation, the orientation and the morphologyof the respective basins. Finally the expected changes in the flow river regimeare regulated by the combination of the snow cover dynamics and the increasing trend20 of the air temperature. It confirms the high sensitivity of this region to the warming asidentified by the 4rd IPCC Assessment Report.

AB - In the often discussed Aral Sea basin (Central Asia), water availability depends essentiallyon the high mountains located in its eastern part, especially from the Pamir AlayRange where the Vakhsh and Pyandj Rivers, the main tributaries of the Amu Darya5 River, flow. In this region, the cryosphere, glaciers, and snow cover significantly impactthe water cycle and the flow regime, which could be deeply modified by climatechange. The present study, part of a project funded by the EU FP6, analyzes the hydrologicalsituation in six benchmark basins covering areas between 1800 and 8400 km2,essentially located in Tajikistan, with a variety of topographical situations, precipitation10 amounts, and glacierized areas. Four types of parameter are discussed: temperature,glaciers, snow cover, and river flows. Two time periods are considered: (i) a long timeseries ending in the 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and based on fieldobservations and data collection; (ii) a May 2000 to May 2002 interval, using scarcemonitored data and satellite information to follow snow cover dynamics. The results15 confirm the global homogeneous trend of temperature increase in the mountain rangeand its impacts on the surface water regimes. Concerning the snow cover, significantdifferences are noted regarding the location, the elevation, the orientation and the morphologyof the respective basins. Finally the expected changes in the flow river regimeare regulated by the combination of the snow cover dynamics and the increasing trend20 of the air temperature. It confirms the high sensitivity of this region to the warming asidentified by the 4rd IPCC Assessment Report.

KW - Construction engineering and architecture

KW - Water availability

KW - Wasserwirtschaft

KW - Hydrologie

KW - Sustainability Science

U2 - 10.5194/hessd-9-29-2012

DO - 10.5194/hessd-9-29-2012

M3 - Journal articles

SP - 29

EP - 64

JO - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions

JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions

SN - 1812-2108

IS - 9

ER -