Background

The global climatic change during the first half of the twentieth century has brought a tremendous impact on the high mountainous glacial environment. Many of the big glaciers melted rapidly and gave birth to the origin of a large number of glacier lakes. Due to the faster rate of ice and snow melting, possibly caused by the global warming, the accumulation of water in these lakes has been increasing rapidly and resulting sudden discharge of large volumes of water and debris and causing flooding in the downstream. In South Asia, particularly in the Himalayan region, it has been observed that the frequency of the occurrence of GLOF events has been increasing in the second half of the twentieth century. The recent catastrophic GLOF event in the Nepal Himalaya known as the Dig Tsho GLOF in 1985, has destroyed the Namche small hydel project that was built at the cost of US$ 1.5 million approximately. Accurate and timely information on the spatial locations and regular monitoring of the glacier lakes' behavior is needed, to prevent and monitor the GLOF hazards and assess the damages to be occurred in the near future. Modern information tools such as Remote Sensing and GIS could play a lead role in identifying potential risk lakes and monitoring the GLOF events in near real time.

Goals/Objectives

The broad goal of the project is prepare an operational early warning system for Glacier Lake Outburst Flooding hazards. The specific objectives are:

• Inventorying of existing glacier lakes along the Hindu Kush Himalayas (Nepal and Bhutan)
• Monitoring of potential risk lakes for draining; and
• Preparation of an operational early warning mechanism for GLOF hazards.

The major activities of the project include inventorying of glacier lakes in the Hindu Kush Hilalayas, monitor the potential risk areas and establish an early warning system by using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The project also aims to build the capacity of the countries for regular monitoring.

Deliverables

The followings are the major outputs of the project.

• Up-to-date information on the present situation of glacier lakes;
• Capacity in place for glacial lake outburst flood prevention planning, inventory, monitoring and early warning; and
• An operational early warning mechanism for GLOF hazards

The Regional Coordinator of UNEP Environment Assessment Programme for Asia and the Pacific will coordinate the project. The project will be implemented together with International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. National remote sensing and environmental agencies will also be involved in the project.

Time Frame

The total duration of the project is 8 months starting from July, 1999.

Geographic Scope

The present study covers high Himalayas of Nepal and Bhutan.

Achievement Indicators

The followings are the achievable indicators of the project.

• The decision makers and common people in the region are aware of the GLOF phenomenon and taking necessary precautions for prevention and minimize the impacts;
• Member countries in the region are performing glacier lake inventory and monitoring GLOF hazards regularly.

To carry out the above activities, a total amount of US$ 175,000 is needed of which US$ 150,000 has been requested from the UNEP Environment fund and AIT will contribute the rest US$ 25,000 as in-kind contribution to the project.

For Further Information:

Mr. Surendra Shrestha Regional Coordinator	Tin Aung Moe
UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific Asian Institute of Technology P.O. Box 4, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand Tel: (66-2) 524-6235, Fax: (66-2) 516-2125 Email: info@rrcap.unep.org , Home Page: www.rrcap.unep.org