HR: 1340h
AN: H23D-1147    [Abstracts]
TI: Glacier Change Detection in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan
AU: * Shroder, J F
EM: jshroder@mail.unomaha.edu
AF: University of Nebraska at Omaha, Department of Geography and Geology, Omaha, NE 68182 United States
AU: Bishop, M P
EM: bishop@data.unomaha.edu
AF: University of Nebraska at Omaha, Department of Geography and Geology, Omaha, NE 68182 United States
AB: A half century of intermittently collected cryospheric and hydrologic data in Afghanistan has involved diverse field surveys, aerial photography, and satellite imagery that enable change detection in the war-torn, drought-stricken region. Afghanistan relies heavily upon snow-and ice-melt for vital irrigation and ground-water recharge, yet the past two decades of war have only exacerbated the originally already deficient information collection and analysis of such data. Glacier field studies and base-line inventory work initiated in the pre-war 1960-1970 period are now providing limited change detection information for the vital physical analysis necessary in the reconstruction of the country. Five case study areas were selected for renewed assessment over the intervening half century, from the western-most ice masses of the Koh-i-Foladi region in central Afghanistan, through the Mir Samir and Sakhi regions of the central Hindu Kush, to the Keshnikhan and Pamir areas of the Wakhan Corridor. Certain incompatibilities or ambiguities exist between Soviet-era and Western-derived data sets. In general, however, glaciers of Afghanistan are continuing to downwaste and retreat, with smaller ice masses disappearing altogether, presumably as the climatic snowline continues to rise above the peaks, a trend first noticed in the 1960s. Glacier survival in the lower central areas is now in part determined by topographic shielding from solar radiation high in shadowed cirques, or being preserved beneath increasing debris covers, whereas in the higher regions to the northeast, fewer changes to the larger, higher altitude glaciers are apparent. Renewed assessment of all Afghanistan glaciers is now underway as a part of the USGS- and NASA-supported GLIMS (Global Land-Ice Measurements from Space) project, and is viewed as an important element in the primary geodata collection and hazard assessment necessary for aiding in rebuilding the infrastructure of the beleaguered nation.
DE: 1827 Glaciology (1863)
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting