Structural basin

Geology

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Physical geography

Geomorphology

Glacier

Glacier mass balance

Sea ice

Geography

Digital elevation model

Geotechnical engineering

Accumulation zone

Cryosphere

Climatology

Hydrology (agriculture)

Thinning

Forestry

Remote sensing

Ice stream

Indus

Scientific Reports

Decadal glacier thickness changes over the Upper Indus Basin in the Jammu and Kashmir Himalaya were estimated using the TanDEM-X and SRTM-C Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from 2000 to 2012. In the study area 12,243 glaciers having 19,727 ± 1,054 km 2 area have thinned on an average of − 0.35 ± 0.33 m a −1 during the observation period. The highest thinning of − 1.69 ± 0.60 m a −1 was observed in the Pir Panjal while as the marginal thinning of − 0.11 ± 0.32 m a −1 was observed for the glaciers in the Karakoram. The observed glacier thickness changes indicated a strong influence of the topographic parameters. Higher thickness reduction was observed on the glaciers situated at lower altitudes (− 1.40 ± 0.53 m a −1 ) and with shallower slopes (− 1.52 ± 0.40 m a −1 ). Significantly higher negative thickness changes were observed from the glaciers situated on the southern slopes (− 0.55 ± 0.37 m a −1 ). The thickness loss was higher on the debris-covered glaciers (− 0.50 ± 0.38 m a −1 ) than on the clean glaciers (− 0.32 ± 0.33 m a −1 ). The cumulative glacier mass loss of − 70.32 ± 66.69 Gt was observed during the observation period, which, if continued, would significantly affect the sustainability of water resources in the basin.

The satellite observed glacier mass changes over the Upper Indus Basin during 2000–2012