A Hydrological Response Analysis Considering Climatic Variability: Case Study of Hunza Catchment
Abstract
The hydrological response of mountainous catchments particularly dependent on melting runoff is very vulnerable to climatic variability. This study is an attempt to assess hydrological response towards climatic variability of the Hunza catchment located in the mountainous chain of greater Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region. The hydrological response is analyzed through changes in snowmelt, ice melt and total runoff simulated through the application of the hydrological modeling system PREVAH under hypothetically developed climate change scenarios. The developed scenarios are based on changes in precipitation (Prp) and temperature (Tmp) and their combination. Under all the warmer scenarios, the increase in temperature systematically decreases the mean annual snow melt and increases significantly glacier melt volume. Temperature changes from 1°C to 4°C produce a large increase in spring and summer runoff, while no major variation was observed in the winter and autumn runoff. The maximum seasonal changes recorded under the Tmp+4°C, Prp+10% scenario.
Keywords:
mountain region, Hunza catchment, melting contribution, water resourcesDownloads
References
J. Briscoe, U. Qamar, Pakistan’s Water Economy: Running Dry, Oxford University Press, 2009
A. N. Laghari, D. Vanham,l W. Rauch, “To what extend does climate change result in a shift in Alpine hydrology? A case study of Austrian Alps”, Hydrological Sciences Journal, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 103-117, 2012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2011.637040
IPCC, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, 2007
P. Singh, S. K. Jain, N. Kumar, “Snow and glacier melt runoff contribution in the Chenab river at Akhnoor”, Mountain Research Development, Vol. 17, pp. 49–56, 1997 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3673913
D. Vanham, E. Fleischhacker, W. Rauch, “Impact of an extreme dry and hot summer on water supply security in an alpine region”, Water Science and Technology, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 469-477, 2009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2009.887
D. Vanham, E. Fleischhacker, W. Rauch, “Impact of snowmaking on alpine water resources management under present and climate change conditions”, Water Science and Technology, Vol. 59, No. 9, pp. 1793-1801, 2009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2009.211
P. Singh, L. Bengtsson, “Hydrological sensitivity of a large Himalayan basin to climate change”, Hydrological Processes, Vol. 18, pp. 2363–2385, 2004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.1468
D. Viviroli, M. Zappa, J. Gurtz, R. Weingartner, “An introduction to the hydrological modelling system PREVAH and its pre- and post-processing-tools”, Environmental Modelling & Software, Vol. 24, No. 10, pp. 1209–1222, 2009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.04.001
M. Verbunt, M. Zappa, J. Gurtz, P. Kaufmann, “Verification of a coupled hydro meteorological modelling approach for alpine tributaries in the Rhine basin”, Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 324, No. 1-4, pp. 224–238, 2006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.09.036
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after its publication in ETASR with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
