GLACINDIA

Water Related Effects of Changes in Glacier Mass Balance and River Runoff in Western Himalaya, India: Past, Present and Future (GLACINDIA)

The GLACINDIA project is a multi-disciplinary project involving cooperation between European, India and US institutes. From Germany, the Climate Service Center Germany is actively involved in GLACINDIA and receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

GLACINDIA domain with topography (in meter) and sub-regions of Himalayas © GERICS (click image to enlarge)

The primary objective of the GLACINDIA project is to produce updated and scientifically robust data on water related effects of changes in mass balance of glaciers and river runoff, aiming at reducing uncertainties in one region of Western Himalaya by a combination of field data and measurements coupled with climate downscaling and modeling of glacier mass balance and model experiments at two glaciers (Chhota Shigri and Patsio glaciers) in NW Himalaya, India.

The project further has a focus on improving existing scientific capacities in the region. GLACINDIA will strengthen established and ongoing research activities between the partners and make significant scientific contributions and added value to these activities. Effective and targeted dissemination of the results to governmental agencies, stakeholders and the general public is highly prioritized.

GERICS main task is to produce the transient climate change simulation at very high-resolution (~25km) for India with a focus over Himalayas using several climate change scenarios. Another important task at GERICS is to introduce dynamical glacier scheme (DGS) into the RCM REMO latest version.

DGS has unique ability to simulate the glacier mass balance and dynamically adjusted surface fraction of the each grid box depending on the accumulation and ablation conditions. REMO-DGS simulation will be produced to assess the future climate projections for impact studies and evaluation of the local climate response with and without presence of glaciers.

Finally GERICS will actively contribute to the dissemination of the results to stakeholders within the project region. Focus will be given to the generation of products tailored towards the user needs. Therefore GERICS will facilitate as a close contact to respective stakeholders.