Assessment of supraglacial lake growth from multi-temporal satellite data-a case study of Vasundhara Tal, Kumaun Himalaya, India

The climate change of the twentieth century has a pronounced effect on glacier environments of the Himalaya. The formation of supraglacial lakes and moraine dammed lakes and glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is major concern in countries such as India, Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal and Pakistan. The hazardous lakes, however, are situated in remote areas therefore very difficult to monitor through ground surveys due to rugged terrain and extreme climatic conditions. The Vasundhara Tal - a supraglacial lake- in Kumaun Himalaya studied using temporal satellite data has grown to an extent of 0.17 Km(2) area in 2005. Empirical relations show that the lake can generate a discharge ranging from 9.6 x 10(5) to 107.86 x 10(6) cu m/sec., in the event of an outburst flood.