Guidelines for standardised cryosphere monitoring

About the event

Following the successful consultation with partners in Pakistan, we will be consulting our partners in China on development of guidelines for a standardised approach to monitoring cryosphere in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. The second consultation meeting is being organised in collaboration with the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE), Chengdu, China.

During the consultation workshop, we will seek feedback to the draft guideline developed by our team, reviewed in the first consultation in Pakistan, share best practices and learn about existing methodologies, and guidelines.

Objectives

• Get agreement on the standardised methodologies and guidelines to the specific needs of cryosphere research in China.
• Jointly review standardised methodologies and guidelines for monitoring and understanding regional cryosphere changes.

Meeting will be attended by representatives of our partners in China including IMHE, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Lanzhou University, Yunnan University, Central South University of China, and Tsinghua University.

The event is organised by Action Area A – Managing Cryosphere and Water Risks under the Strategic Group (SG-1) on Reducing Climate and Environment Risks with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Expected Outcomes

• Agreement on the development of standardised methodologies and guidelines to the specific needs of cryosphere research in China.
• Strengthened collaboration among key institutions in China for cryosphere monitoring.

Background

The cryosphere, primarily glaciers, snow, and permafrost in High Mountain Asia, provides water for approximately one-fifth of the world’s population. Monitoring cryosphere components in the region is crucial for assessing meltwater, especially during the dry season, and for improved assessment of cryosphere-related hazards (e.g. ice and snow avalanches, landslides, debris flow). However, long-term glacier, snow, and permafrost monitoring activities are sparse in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), including the Karakoram region. The large spatial coverage of the cryosphere in the HKH makes it essential to understand how the cryosphere is changing in response to climate change.

However, the region lacks a standardised methodologies and guidelines for monitoring cryosphere changes. The variation in data collection methods across the regional member countries limits to the accuracy and reliability of change assessments, thereby hindering informed decision-making. To effectively address these challenges, we are bringing stakeholders together to formulate such guidelines and protocols to ensure consistency and comparability in cryosphere research efforts. These standardized guidelines are crucial for robust, reliable, and reproducible data collection and research. Once developed, such guidelines can enhance long-term monitoring initiatives, allowing researchers to track cryosphere changes over extended periods, identify trends, and understand underlying drivers, and downstream impacts.