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Koshi Basin Initiative
The Koshi DRR Knowledge Hub (KDKH) has been conceptualized as a platform, led and driven by members to foster transboundary collaboration and promote science, policy, and practice interlinkage.
At a glance
Contributing to a resilient Koshi basin through better understanding and evidence-based decision making on transboundary water-related DRR.
River Basins and Cryosphere
Koshi basin Initiative
Kanchan Shrestha
Programme Coordinator
Journal Article, 2019
The Indo-Gangetic basin exhibits highly diverse hydro-geomorphic settings that influence the hydrology, sediment production, and transport rates of the rivers draining this region, and this, in turn, is manifested in morphometric diversity of river systems. The rivers draining the western Gangetic plains (WGP) show incised channels attributable to high stream power and low sediment yield. In contrast, the rivers draining the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) have formed aggradational landforms such as megafans due to low stream power and high sediment yield.
Floods are one of the most devastating natural events that lead to enormous and recurring loss of life, properties, and resources around the globe. In India, floods remain a recurrent event during the monsoon season in many parts of the country but most seriously in the flat and monotonous Gangetic plains in the Himalayan foreland.
Journal Article, 2013
During the monsoon months from June to September, all the rivers in Terai are in spate with bank-full discharges and cause flooding and inundation. The problems of flooding and inundation in the Terai are more critical due to change in climate in general and change in rainfall pattern/intensity in particular. This article tries to highlight the issues and concerns of flooding and inundation in the Terai and suggests measures to mitigate these issues in light of climate change adaptation.
The Southern Terai plain area of Nepal is exposed to recurring floods causing the loss of lives of about 300 people and damage to properties worth about 10 million USD annually. Consequently, the overall development of the country has been adversely affected. The flood risk could be significantly reduced by developing effective operational f lood early warning systems.
Journal Article, 2014
The glaciers in the Nepalese Himalayas are retreating due to rising temperatures. Lack of data and information on Nepal’s cryosphere has impeded scientific studies and field investigations in the Nepalese Himalayas. Therefore, IRD France and Ev-K2 CNR Italy have conducted the PAPRIKA (CryosPheric responses to Anthropogenic PRessures in the HIndu Kush-Himalaya regions: impacts on water resources and society adaptation in Nepal) project in Nepal with the financial support of the French and Italian scientific agencies.
Models for river avulsions have identified the ratio between down-valley and cross-valley slopes of channels as the triggering factors for the sudden channel shift but have remained untested in the field. The August 2008 avulsion of the Kosi River at Kusaha, 12. km upstream of the Kosi barrage in Nepal, provided an opportunity to study a large-scale avulsion (~. 120. km) for its causal factors and driving mechanisms.
Journal Article, 2017
Current flood forecasting tools for river basins subject to extreme seasonal monsoon rainfall are of limited value because they do not consider nonlinearity between basin hydrological properties. The goal of this study is to develop models that account for nonlinearity relationships in flood forecasting, which can aid future flood warning and evacuation system models.
Koshi flood of August 2008 in eastern lowlands of Nepal affected around 2.64 million people in India and Nepal, including 65,000 people and 700 ha fertile land in Nepal. It was calculated that 25% of the affected cultivated land of Shreepur, Haripur and western Kushaha villages in Sunsari district are still barren and remain filled with flood sediment of sizes from clay to sand even after 8 years.
The dynamism of geomorphic provinces in fluvial systems present considerable ambiguities in mapping by remote sensing. This necessitates use of multiple satellite data to characterize such depositional provinces. We use, an integrated dataset to characterize the geomorphic provinces (e.g. active flood plain, older food plain, fan etc.) of the Kosi River (Bihar), India.
Journal Article, 2018
This paper presents the results of modelling study of Koshi River. The modelling approach is based on twodimensional hydrodynamic model. The simulation is carried out with model software Nays 2DH. The study analyses the inundation parameters, hazard assessment criteria, flood inundation extent delineation and identification of hazardous areas in different discharge scenarios of 25, 50 and 100 years return periods flow.
A comprehensive flood risk assessment should aim not only at quantifying uncertainties but also the variability of risk over time. In this study, an efficient modelling framework was proposed to perform probabilistic hazard and risk analysis in dike-protected river systems accounting for morphological variability and uncertainty. The modelling framework combined the use of: (1) continuous synthetic discharge forcing, (2) a stochastic dike breach model dynamically coupled to a stochastic unsteady one-dimensional hydraulic model (MIKE1D) describing river flows, (3) a catalogue of pre-run probabilistic inundation maps (MIKE SHE) and (4) a damage and loss model (CAPRA).
Flooding in the rapidly urbanizing city of Birendranagar, Nepal has been intensifying, culminating in massive loss of life and property during July and August 2014. No previous studies have monitored underlying land-cover dynamics and flood hazards for the area. This study described spatiotemporal urbanization dynamics and associated land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes of the city using Landsat imagery classifications for five periods between 1989 and 2016 (1989–1996, 1996–2001, 2001–2011, 2011–2016).
The Kosi River in India is well known in the fluvial fan literature because of its well-documented avulsive dynamics and because of the relationships between changes in the course of the river and megafan aggradational processes. The radial configuration of the Kosi drainage network was instrumental in the recognition of large, low-gradient, fluvial-dominated counterparts of alluvial fans, commonly defined as megafans, and the system forms a well-constrained example contributing to the recent development of the concept of distributive fluvial systems.
Agriculture is the prime requirement for sustaining human life on earth, and agriculture sustainability depends on soil health and suitable climatic variations. Human have adopted many local-weather-dependent crop types and its cultivation patterns based on knowledge about long term climatic and environmental conditions. Any anomaly in these factors would result in unforeseen reduction in the food production and associated socio-economic chaos at local/regional to global scale.
Vulnerability assessment using composite indices provides critical information for the policymakers on why certain regions are impacted more than the others. Several researchers have assessed the vulnerability to hazard in diverse spatial and environmental settings, however, not many studies have assessed the vulnerability to flood hazards in Bihar, where flooding is a perennial event.
Floods cause catastrophic destruction to life and livelihood in South Asia than any other parts of the world. This research assessed long term (2001 to 2015) flood risk at South Asia level using eight-day Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data and subsequently expanded this methodology to identify potential zones for piloting flood index insurance scheme in Bihar, India.
The Kosi megafan region of eastern Bihar, India, comprising of eight districts, is regularly afflicted by large floods that cause extensive damage. Mapping the possible inundation susceptible zones in the region accurately is, therefore, paramount for land resource conservation and livelihood preservation. This paper compares the relative efficiency of two flood zonation methods, the frequency ratio and fuzzy logic models, for flood susceptibility evaluation and delineation.
Hydrological and sediment transport characteristics for the Kosi basin, which covers parts of Nepal and India, were analysed to understand the spatiotemporal variability of the hydrology and sediment dynamics of the Kosi basin and its implications for flood hazard and sediment dynamics. The study revealed that ∼56% of the discharge at Chatara (where all major tributaries of the Kosi meet) is contributed from the western part of the basin even though this constitutes only 34% of the total basin area.
Flood is one of the most the most re-occurring natural hazard in the state of Bihar, as well as in India. The major rivers responsible for flood in the state of Bihar are Kosi, Gandak, Ghagra and Bagmati, which are the tributary rivers of Ganges. The head water catchment area of these rivers lies in the Himalayan state of Nepal. The high rainfall in Nepal, siltation of hydraulic structures, rivers and low topography of North Bihar causes flood occurrence in these areas on regular basis.
Journal Article, 1987
The Kosi River shifts laterally over the Himalaya foreland plain by continual minor cutoffs and bank cutting and by episodic major shifts across watersheds, by moving into and then out of preexisting, adjacent, less actively aggrading streams. Migration is unidirectional because after a channel is filled to instability, floodwater will drain preferentially into a new adjacent low rather than across it to the next watershed or back to the last abandoned channel. Major shifts seem stochastic and autocyclic; they do not correlate with the many severe quakes and floods that undoubtedly helped prime the system for shifts.
Journal Article, 2008
In this study, a hydrologic modelling system that uses satellite based rainfall estimates and weather forecast data for the Bagmati River Basin of Nepal is described. The hydrologic model described is the US Geological Survey (USGS) Geospatial Stream Flow Model (GeoSFM). The GeoSFM is a spatially semidistributed, physically based hydrologic model.We have used the GeoSFM to estimate the streamflow of the Bagmati Basin at Pandhera Dovan hydrometric station.
The Kosi river in north Bihar plains, eastern India presents a challenge in terms of long and recurring flood hazard. Despite a long history of flood control management in the basin for more than 5 decades, the river continues to bring a lot of misery through extensive flooding. This paper revisits the flooding problem in the Kosi river basin and presents an in-depth analysis of flood hydrology.
The overflowing Kosi had, as of end-August, wreaked destruction on more than three million people living in north and east Bihar. A field visit reports on the misery of the affected, haphazard rescue efforts and criminal exploitation of the uprooted. The immediate task is to improve relief operations and then provide support to the displaced who will not be able to find work until the 2009 kharif season. A blame game is now in operation, but since the early 1960s whichever the party in power, the people of Bihar have been affected by official apathy towards the embankments on the Kosi.
Journal Article, 2009
The 18 August 2008 avulsion of the Kosi River draining the parts of north Bihar in eastern India may well be regarded as one of the greatest avulsions in a large river in recent years. The Kosi River shifted by ~120 km eastward, triggered by the breach of the eastern afflux bund at Kusaha in Nepal at a location 12 km upstream of the Kosi barrage.
Journal Article, 2010
It has been proposed that the Kosi River continuously migrated >113 km westward across the surface of the megafan over the last two centuries. Examination of a number of old maps published between 1760 and 1960 shows that during most of this period the Kosi River occupied a position slightly east of the megafan axis. The apparent channel movement shown in these maps is oscillating in nature and not unidirectional.
The Kosi flood disaster of 2008 in Bihar and also in Nepal highlights two key issues relating to flood control. The first is the failure of the structural approach to flood control on the Kosi and the second is institutional dysfunction with respect to trans-boundary flood management. This article discusses the key reasons for the failure of flood management in the Kosi, through stakeholder interviews and observations in the aftermath of the flood.
Journal Article, 2011
This paper presents the intelligent techniques approach for flood monitoring using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images. We applied artificial neural networks and Self-Organizing Kohonen Maps (SOMs), to SAR image segmentation and classification.
Journal Article, 2012
Humans have utilized water resources for millennia by modifying natural river courses and such interventions have greatly influenced not only river flows and sediment fluxes, but also the overall river morphology. Situated in the Nepal’s eastern Ganges region, the braided Koshi River is unique among the other rivers, because of the high frequency of channel avulsion and other morphological changes, such as: channel migration, channel width adjustment.
Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in India. Typically, the Kosi and Gandak river basins are well-known for lingering flood affected basins in North Bihar every year, which lies in the eastern part of India. There were no such comprehensive studies available in North Bihar that discussed flood progression and regression at shorter time-scales like two day intervals.
Journal Article, 2000
Glaciers and snow”elds can form potential hazards in the Himalayas, and in similarly glacierised regions of the world. Some glaciological phenomena can have signi”cant impacts upon society over a short time scale (minutes}days), such as ice/snow avalanches and glacial #oods. Other related hazards can be equally serious but less obvious when considered on a much longer time scale (months}years}decades), such as glacier volume #uctuations leading to water resource problems.
Journal Article, 2003
Glacial-lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Mount Everest region of Nepal on 3 September 1977 and 4 August 1985 dramatically modified channels and valleys in the region by eroding, transporting, and depositing large quantities of sediment for tens of kilometers along their flood routes. Prior to this research, the GLOF discharges had not been determined and the hydrology of “normal” climate floods (SHFFs: seasonal high flow floods) was not known.
Journal Article, 2007
A preliminary study of glacial fluctuations in Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park, Nepal was undertaken in Oct–Nov 2007 using repeat photography. Photographs from scientific and cartographic expeditions to the upper Imja Khola region ca. 1950 were replicated in order to derive a better, empirically-based understanding of what changes had occurred in the region’s glaciers during the past half century.
Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are common natural hazards in the Himalaya. These floods, usually of large magnitude, can severely affect fragile mountain ecosystems and their limited economic activities. In this study, GLOF hazard in the Sagarmatha region (national park and buffer zone) was assessed using dam break and hydrodynamic modeling. The available data from the Dig Tsho GLOF of 1985 were used to validate many of the model outputs.
Research Article, 2009
The Tam Pokhari glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), which occurred in 1998 in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal, was evaluated using hydrodynamic models to gain a better understanding of the flow behaviour. The flood wave was analysed separately under rigid and erodible boundary conditions. In both cases, the calculated dam‐breach hydrograph, which had a peak discharge of about 10 000 m3/s, was routed through the Inkhu River, which originates from the lake.
Recent climate changes have had a significant impact on the high-mountain glacial environment. Rapid melting of glaciers has resulted in the formation and expansion of moraine-dammed lakes, creating a potential danger from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Most lakes have formed during the second half of the 20th century. Glaciers in the Mount Everest (Sagamartha) region, Nepal, are retreating at an average rate of 10-59 m a-1.
The ongoing retreat of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) is associated with climate change. While deglaciation can cause a suite of impacts, one of the most visible and tangible impacts is the formation of glacial lakes. Some of these lakes can burst out causing large flash floods with the potential to cause significant damage to property, lives and livelihoods. At the moment, knowledge of the current glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) risk in the HKH is incomplete, and a proper risk assessment is often circumvented.
This report details the results of some recent geomorphological studies, surveys and mappings of the higher parts of the northern (Tibetan) area of Mount Everest, along the Rongbuk glacier. Its retreat is causing extensive gravitational phenomena involving both ice/snow and rock/debris. At the same time, the spatial reduction and the retreat of the glacier tongues are promoting new conditions for superficial and supraglacial run-off, concentrated in the terminus area, generating a direct transition from glacial to paraglacial processes over short distance and time scales.
The climate variability and global climatic change has brought significant impact on the glacial environment of Everest region. The rapid melting of glaciers had result of reduction of glacier mass with the increase in size of mo-raine dammed glacial lakes. The merging and expansion of supraglacial lakes at the snout of the valley glacier had formed moraine dammed lakes. Most of these lakes had formed only on the second half of twentieth century as an impact of global warming.
Early warning system (EWS) is an integral component of risk management for natural threats as societal catastrophes many of which are attributed to climate change is on the rise. It has been listed as one of the five priorities under Hy- ogo Framework for Action (HFA) for building disaster resilience nations and communities. However, to put in place an operational and reliable technical Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) EWS in the Himalaya, characterized by hostile terrain and climate, despite the urgency in view of the climate change is a challenge.
Research Article (EGU), 2011
Mass loss of Himalayan glaciers has wide-ranging consequences such as changing runoff distribution, sea level rise and an increasing risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). The assessment of the regional and global impact of glacier changes in the Himalaya is, however, hampered by a lack of mass balance data for most of the range.
In areas of high relief, many glaciers have extensive covers of supraglacial debris in their ablation zones, which alters both rates and spatial patterns of melting, with important consequences for glacier response to climate change. Wastage of debris-covered glaciers can be associated with the formation of large moraine-dammed lakes, posing risk of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
In recent decades, many of the larger glaciers in the Himalaya and Andes that have experienced increased melting have become glacial lakes. Some of these lakes present a risk of glacial lake outburst floods that can unleash stored lake water and eroded debris, often causing enormous devastation downstream. Many of these new glacial lakes have formed in the Mt. Everest and Makalu Barun National Parks of Nepal, nine of which in the remote Hinku and Hongu valleys have been designated as “potentially dangerous” based on remote sensing analyses.
The Himalaya holds the world record in terms of range and elevation. It is one of the most extensively glacierized regions in the world except the Polar Regions. The Himalaya is a region sensitive to climate change. Changes in the glacial regime are indicators of global climate changes. Since the second half of the last century, most Himalayan glaciers have melted due to climate change.
Region warming and the resulting ongoing deglaciation have led to the formation of new glacial lakes and expansion of existing glacial lakes. For giving an overview of the distribution and expansion of glacial lakes in the Koshi River Basin (KRB) between the Central China and Nepal Himalayas in the recent 10 years, this paper aimed to analyze and assess recent spatial variability of glacial lake changes in the KRB, Central Himalayas using two inventory data of glacial lake in 2001 and 2010 in Nepal and Landsat TM/ETM+ data for the 1990s, 2000 and 2009 on the Chinese section of the KRB.
Journal Article, 2015
Glacial-dominated areas pose unique challenges to downstream communities in adapting to recent and continuing global climate change, including increased threats of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) that can increase risk due to flooding of downstream communities and cause substantial impacts on regional social, environmental and economic systems.
Recession of high-mountain glaciers in response to climatic change frequently results in the development of morainedammed glacial lakes. Moraine dam failure is often accompanied by the release of large volumes of water and sediment, termed a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). Chukhung Glacier is a small (~3km2) receding valley glacier in Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park, Nepal.
The Himalayas have experienced several glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and the risk of GLOFs is now increasing in the context of global warming. Poiqu watershed in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China, also known as the Bhote Koshi and Sun Koshi downstream in Nepal, has been identified as highly prone to GLOFs. This study explored the distribution of and changes in glacial lakes, past GLOFs and the resulting losses, risk from potential future GLOFs, and risk reduction initiatives within the watershed.
Like other mountainous areas, Nepal is highly vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and this vulnerability has increased due to climate change. Risk reduction strategies must be based on a comprehensive risk assessment. A comprehensive methodological approach for GLOF risk assessment is described and illustrated in case studies of the potential GLOF risk posed in Nepal by four glacial lakes, one located in China.
Journal Article, 2016
This chapter explores the relationship between research on glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), a lack of communication of results, and resultant confusion among local inhabitants. First, this chapter reviews the progress of research on Imja Glacial Lake (Imja Tsho) in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal, one of the most extensively studied lakes in the Himalaya and which is considered by some to be among the most dangerous lake.
Region-wide averaging of Himalayan glacier mass change has masked any catchment or glacier-scale variability in glacier recession; thus the role of a number of glaciological processes in glacier wastage remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantify mass loss rates over the period 2000–2015 for 32 glaciers across the Everest region and assess how future ice loss is likely to differ depending on glacier hypsometry.
The Himalayas of South Asia are home to many glaciers that are retreating due to climate change and causing the formation of large glacial lakes in their absence. These lakes are held in place by naturally deposited moraine dams that are potentially unstable. Specifically, an impulse wave generated by an avalanche or landslide entering the lake can destabilize the moraine dam, thereby causing a catastrophic failure of the moraine and a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).
Climate change has been adversely affecting glaciers causing them to advance and recession worldwide. Existing studies have primarily attributed temperature as the leading factor causing glacier recession. However, detailed studies that investigate effect of other factors like presence of debris cover, slope, and contact with water bodies are still scarce.
Several supraglacial ponds are developing and increasing in size and number in the Himalayan region. They are the precursors of large glacial lakes and may become potential for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Recently, GLOF events originating from supraglacial ponds were recorded; however, the spatial, temporal, and seasonal distributions of these ponds are not well documented. We chose 23 debris-covered glaciers in the Everest region, Nepal, to study the development of supraglacial ponds.
Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are among the most serious cryospheric hazards for mountain communities. Multiple studies have predicted the potential risks posed by rapidly expanding glacial lakes in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone of Nepal. People’s perceptions of such cryospheric hazards can influence their actions, beliefs, and responses to those hazards and associated risks.
Accurate wavefront aberration measurement are essential for next-generation Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography. During the past years several accurate interferometric techniques have been developed, but these techniques have limitation. In this work we discuss a different technique based on the Hartmann Wavefront Sensor that requires no interferometry.
Journal Article, 1993
The change in the granulometric composition of the suspension solid phase as a result of gravitational coagulation both in an infinite and semi-limited volume of liquid has been investigated. As a solution of the Koshi problem for the Smolukhovsky equation a series with respect to the small parameter is used, for the initial calculated density of particle distribution, adopted in the form of superimposition of two delta functions.
Koshi River basin, which is a trans-boundary basin shared by China, Nepal and India, covers an area of about 71,500 km2. This study investigated the landslide locations in this basin by means of interpreting remote sensing images as well as field work. We could map 5904 landslides that are located within China and Nepal. Landslide caused different kinds of disasters including damage to public and private properties.
A massive landslide occurred at Jure village of Nepal on August 2, 2014. The landslide mass blocked the Sunkoshi River and created a landslide dam. Thirty-seven days after the formation, the Sunkoshi landslide dam breached on September 7, 2014. In this study, flood hazards due to the formation and failure of the Sunkoshi landslide dam were analyzed. Flood inundation due to impounded water in the upstream river valley of the dam was also analyzed.
Assessment and inventory of landslide susceptibility are essential for the formulation of successful disaster mitigation plans. The objective of this study was to assess landslide susceptibility in relation to geo-diversity and its hydrological response in the Lesser Himalaya with a case study using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The Dabka watershed, which constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Lesser Himalaya, India, in the district of Nainital, has been selected for the case illustration.
Changes in glacial lakes and the consequences of these changes, particularly on the development of water resources and management of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) risk, has become one of the challenges in the sustainable development of high mountain areas in the context of global warming. This paper presents the findings of a study on the distribution of, and area changes in, glacial lakes in the Koshi basin in the central Himalayas.
Koshi River basin, which is a trans-boundary basin shared by China, Nepal and India, covers an area of about 87,500 km2. This study investigated the landslide locations in this basin by means of interpreting remote sensing images as well as field work. We could map 5653 landslides that are located within China and Nepal. Landslide caused different kinds of disasters including damage to public and private properties. The most common hazard pattern is supplying sources to debris flow, accounting for 48.38% of the number of landslides.
The 2015 M w 7.8 Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks caused nearly 9000 deaths and more than 23,000 injuries and triggered thousands of landslides and other mass-wasting effects in the steep, rugged topography of Nepal. In this paper, new slope failures and tension cracks induced by the 2015 Nepal earthquake are documented in steep terrain west of the Tatopani Border Station, which lies along the deeply incised Bhote Koshi River valley, a critical trans-Himalayan transport route between south Asia and Tibet/China.
A portion of the Kosi River in the outer Kumaun Lesser Himalaya is characterized by wide river course situated south of the Ramgarh Thrust, where huge thickness (~200 m) of the landslide deposits and two to three levels of unpaired fan terraces are present. Brittle normal faults, suggesting extensional tectonics, are recognized in the Quaternary deposits and bedrocks as further supported by surface morphology. Trending E–W, these faults measure from 3 to 5 km in length and are traced as discontinuous linear mini-horst and fault scarps (sackungen) exposed due to cutting across by streams.
The 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha earthquake triggered thousands of landslides of various types scattered over a large area. In the current study, we utilized pre- and post-earthquake high-resolution satellite imagery to compile two landslide inventories before and after earthquake and prepared three landslide susceptibility maps within 404 km2 area using frequency ratio (FR) model. From the study, we could map about 519 landslides including 178 pre-earthquake slides and 341 coseismic slides were identified.
Assessment of future water resources under climate change is required in the Himalayas, where hydrological cycle is poorly studied and little understood. This study focuses on the upper Dudh Koshi river of Nepal (151 km2, 4200–8848 m a.s.l.) at the toe of Mt. Everest, nesting the debris covered Khumbu, and Khangri Nup glaciers (62 km2). New data gathered during three years of field campaigns (2012–2014) were used to set up a glacio-hydrological model describing stream flows, snow and ice melt, ice cover thickness and glaciers’ flow dynamics. The model was validated, and used to assess changes of the hydrological cycle until 2100.
This study focuses on the land use change and climatic variability assessment around Kamala watershed, Sindhuli district, Nepal. The study area covers two municipalities and eight Village Development Committees (VDCs). In this paper, land use change and the climatic variability are examined. The study was focused on analyzing the changes in land use area within the period of 1995 to 2014 and how the climatic data have evolved in different meteorological stations around the watershed.
Geologically and tectonically active Himalayan Range is characterized by highly elevated mountains and deep river valleys. Because of steep mountain slopes, and dynamic geological conditions, large scale landslides are very common in Lesser and Higher Himalayan zones of Nepal Himalaya. Slopes along the major highways of central Nepal namely Prithvi Highway, Narayanghat-Mugling Road and Tribhuvan Highway are considered in this study of large-scale landslides.
Journal Article, 1970
Glacier lakes are common phenomena in the Himalaya region of Nepal. Glacier lake outburst floods have repeatedly caused the death tolls and severe damage to downstream infrastructures. In Himalayas, a vital uncertainty about the glacier lake hazard potential still exists, thereby the effects of accelerating rates of glacier retreat and expansion of Glacier Lake could be the wake of recent global warming and resulting climatic changes. The paper, first describes the general different-level approach upon which the study is based. Then, in the methodological part, applicable remote sensing techniques, geographic information system (GIS) and statistical methods are presented.
Journal Article, 1998
A catastrophic outbrust of a moraine dammed lake at the head of a tributary of Boqu river on the S-flank of the Tibetan Himalayas took place in 1981. The flood with a peak discharge of 15920 m3/s at the breach and 2316 m3/s at Bharabise, more than 50 km downstream, was 16 times larger than the average annual flood of the river, and caused a large scale sediment morement.
Journal Article, 2006
Slope failures occurring near earthquake centres have attracted much attention since the 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake. The 1995 Hyogoken-nambu Earthquake affected large modern cities and urban infrastructure, but hilly and mountainous areas suffered heavy damage from the Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake. During that earthquake, numerous landslides occurred in Koshi of Nagaoka city (formerly Yamakoshi village).
Glacial lakes play an extremely important role in the fragile plateau eco-environment because they are sensitive indicators of climate change in alpine cold areas and can be a source for mountain outburst flood or cause mudflow disaster. Based on multi-source remote sensing image data (Corona, Landsat MSS/ TM/ ETM+/ OLI) from the 1960s to 2010s, topographic maps in the 1970s, glacier inventory and meteorological data, we performed a comprehensive assessment of the spatial-temporal variations of glacial lakes (≥0.05 km2) in the Koshi River basin and examined their influence on glacier changes.
The central objective of the research project Documenting and Assessing Adaptation Strategies to Too Much, Too Little Water is to document adaptation strategies at local or community level to constraints and hazards related to water and induced by climate change in the Himalayan region, including how people are affected by water stress and hazards, their local short and long-term responses, and the extent to which these strategies reduce vulnerability to water stress and hazards.
This paper presents the results of study carried out with the objective of identifying the vulnerable community at ward level of Chisapaani V.D.C of Ramechhap District of Nepal. Vulnerability assessment framework with list of indicators and determinants was prepared and finalized on the basis of literature review of previous works and updated with village development committee (VDC) specific information
This paper presents the results of study carried out with the objective of identifying the vulnerable community at ward level of Chisapaani V.D.C of Ramechhap District of Nepal. Vulnerability assessment framework with list of indicators and determinants was prepared and finalized on the basis of literature review of previous works and updated with village development committee (VDC) specific information.
Changes in climate, associated hazards, local adaptations in agriculture, and socioeconomic factors affecting adaptation were investigated using data from a large survey of 2310 households (HHs) in the Koshi River Basin (KRB), Nepal. More than 80% of HHs had perceived changes in climate in the 10 years preceding the survey, and 20–40% had perceived increases in the occurrence of droughts, dry spells, floods, and livestock diseases.
Drought, a slow phenomenon, increases severity in agriculture that is directly or indirectly linked with water. Livelihood of rural people in Nepal mainly depends on agriculture, therefore, drought either results in diversification of livelihood or most likely increase poverty. Thus, severity of drought leading to migration (permanent and seasonal) as a common livelihood strategy was studied in Pakarbas (Khadadevi Municipality) and Chisapani (Manthali Municipality) of Ramechhap District in Nepal.
For effective development and adaptation interventions in resource-poor regions to take place, it is critical to identify, at the highest spatial scale possible, regions of higher priority based on current needs and vulnerabilities. The index-based assessment of vulnerability to climate change and variability is typically used to identify administrative-level regions of high vulnerability using various socioeconomic and biophysical datasets.
Climate change, particularly at South Asia region is having a huge impact on precipitation patterns, its intensity and extremeness. Mountainous area is much sensitive to these extreme events, hence having adverse effect on environment as well as people in term of fluctuation in water supply as well as frequent extreme weather events such as flood, landslide etc.
Briefly summarising the existing literature on the causes and the characteristics of expected climate changes in India over the coming years, this paper discusses the ways in which these changes might affect the lives of the poor.
The main objective of the study was to assess the integrated multiple hydrological hazards and their environmental and socio-economic risks in Himalaya through geographical information system (GIS) and database management system (DBMS). The Dabka Watershed constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Kumaun Lesser Himalaya has been selected for the case illustration.
Koshi River basin, which lies in the Central Himalayas with an area of 71,500 km2, is an important trans-boundary river basin shared by China, Nepal and India. Yet, landslide-prone areas are all located in China and Nepal, imposing alarming risks of widespread damages to property and loss of human life in both countries.
Large landslide dams are one of the most destructive natural phenomena. They frequently occur in tectonically active orogenic belts with narrow and steep valleys.
The Koshi river basin is shared between China, Nepal and India and is one of the key trans-boundary river basins in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas (HKH). The basin drains an area of about 88,000 km2 and is a river system with a high potential for investments in hydropower development as well as irrigation in the downstream areas. In addition the basin contains important ecosystems and protected areas which provide a range of biodiversity and related ecosystem services and sustain livelihoods. The basin is home to over 40 million people with agriculture as the dominant activity.
Hydrological and sediment transport characteristics for the Kosi basin, which covers parts of Nepal and India, were analysed to understand the spatiotemporal variability of the hydrology and sediment dynamics of the Kosi basin and its implications for flood hazard and sediment dynamics. The study revealed that ∼56% of the discharge at Chatara (where all major tributaries of the Kosi meet) is contributed from the western part of the basin even though this constitutes only 34% of the total basin area. In contrast, the central and eastern parts of the basin constitute 57% and 8% of the basin area but contribute ∼38% and ∼16% of the discharge at Chatara, respectively.
Working Paper (ICIMOD), 2013
The Flood Forecasting and Early Warning in Transboundary River Basins: A Toolkit, produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), is a guide book for building capacity of flood management practitioners in transboundary river basins in the Asia-Pacific region. It provides the know-how of utilizing probabilistic and deterministic modeling frameworks, which integrates meteorological, hydrology and flood forecasting models and accesses real time data and information from multiple sources including earth observation satellites, global/regional hydro-meteorological networks.
Book Chapter, 2015
Koshi is a trans-boundary river that flows in China, Nepal and India. The river originates from Tibet in China and flows through Nepal and India covering 87,481 km2 area and provides livelihoods for almost 40 million people, most of who depend on subsistence agriculture.
Book, 1993
Severe floods caused by glacier outburst have been frequent in the Nepal Himalayas, occurring more than every three years over the approximately thirty years since the 1960s. Nine potentially dangerous glaciers were identified from flight observations which were carried out in the Eastern and Central Nepal Himalayas on pre- and post-monsoon seasons in 1991.
Book, 2004
Affected by Global Warming in the Mountains of the Himalayan RegionOne of the major objectives of the study was to identify areas where GLOF events had occurred and lakes that could pose a potential threat of GLOF in the near future. Out of a surprisingly large total of 354 glacial lakes, the researchers found 19 lakes that are potentially dangerous in the Poiqu basin and (Tama Koshi) in China. .
Book, 2007
This study, prepared in close cooperation with and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, investigates the impact of climate change on glaciers and glacial lakes in two major glacial hotspots in the Himalayas: the Dudh Koshi sub-basin in the Khumbu-Everest region in Nepal, and the Pho Chu sub-basin in Bhutan.
Book, 2008
This paper presents the results of a systematic qualitative Cost-Benefit Analysis of embankment construction in the lower Bagmati River basin in Nepal and India. Using a unique Shared Learning Dialogue (SLD)-based qualitative cost-benefit that also begins to quantify impacts, it provides insights into the trade-offs among strategies that are similar to, but more transparent than, those used in a full cost-benefit analysis.
Conference Proceeding, 2013
This study has attempted to replicate the flooding and the sedimentation during the 2008 flood by using a numerical model. A two-dimensional morphodynamic model, which can treat the bedload and suspended load transport of non-uniform sediment, has been applied to simulate the flood flow and the sediment transport induced by the levee breach. By using this model, we have investigated how this flood propagates on the floodplain and how much sediment was supplied from the levee breach point.
Conference Proceeding, 2017
Kosi is a transboundary river that links Nepal and India, and the Kosi Basin is a fertile flood plain, with good arable land, and plenty of water and sunshine. It should be a breadbasket for the region, with high agricultural productivities, and good agro-industrial developments. ICIMOD and DFAT’s choice of the Kosi Basin for a pilot project for water-based regional development could improve the standard of living of the region significantly.
Conference Proceeding, 2018
A massive landslide in the Jure village of Sindhupalchowk District, Nepal, occurred on August 2, 2014, wiping out dozens of houses and blocking the Sunkoshi River. The spectral element method (SEM) is employed here to study the stability of the slope where the landslide occurred, considering dry and wet slope conditions and pseudo-static seismic loading (with refer to 7.8Mw 2015 Barpak-Gorkha, Nepal earthquake).
Conference Proceeding, 2016
On 2nd August 2014, a rainfall-induced massive landslide hit Jure village, Sindhupalchowk killing 156 people at a distance of 70 km North-East of Kathmandu, Nepal. The landslide was a typical slope failure with massive rock fragments, sand and soil. A total of estimated 6 million cubic meters debris raised more than 100 m from the water level and affected opposite side of the bank.
Report, 2011
Flood Hazard Mapping is a vital component for appropriate land use planning in flood-prone areas. It creates easily-read, rapidly-accessible charts and maps which facilitates the administrators and planners to identify areas of risk and prioritize their mitigation/ response efforts. This article presents an efficient methodology to accurately delineate the flood-hazard areas in the Kosi River Basin, North Bihar, India in a GIS environment.
Working Report, 2010
This report contains an assessment of the threat facing the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region from the recent (post-1950s) and rapid formation of meltwater lakes on the surface or at the end of a large number of the region’s glaciers. There is no doubt that the driving force is the current climate warming. Individual case studies of the catastrophic outburst (glacial lake outburst floods or GLOFs) from such glacial lakes are introduced.
Report (ICIMOD), 2011
The world’s climate has been warming for more than a hundred years: there have been fluctuations, notably cooling phases in the 1960s and 1970s, although long-term records indicate an accelerating warming trend from about 1980. Although this has influenced ecosystems worldwide, its effects on glaciers and the duration of winter snow cover have been particularly noticeable, especially in the European Alps and Greenland, and on the reduction of sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region has been no exception.
Online Report, 2012
his study presents observations of the structure of the terminal moraine complex at Nepal’s Imja Lake, a potentially dangerous glacial lake due to the risk that it might flood. Climate change is increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which threaten local and downstream communities.
Dissertation, 2016
Flood became more frequent and devastating disaster in recent world. Flood forecasting is an essential tool for flood mitigation strategies. The Koshi River is one of the major tributaries of the Ganges. Before joining the Ganges River, almost every year it floods the downstream areas. As upstream area in Himalayan range, hydro-meteorological data is very scarce in that region. Using remote sensing technology to abstract hydro-meteorological data is possible to acquire and this technology is emerging day by day.
Dissertation, 2012
With seasonal migration, the problem of political mobilization and organization becomes a tricky issue. Empirically, there is evidence to suggest that the patterns of migration in South and Central Bihar are very different from that of North Bihar. An extensive study needs to be done to bring out the differences between the two regions of Bihar.
Dissertation, 2014
Glacial-dominated areas pose unique challenges to downstream communities in adapting to recent and continuing global climate change, including increased threats of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) that have substantial impacts on regional social, environmental and economic systems increasing risk due to flooding of downstream communities. In this dissertation, two lakes with potential to generate GLOFs were studied, Imja Lake in Nepal and Palcacocha Lake in Peru.
Debris-covered are ubiquitous in the Nepal Himalaya and significantly alter the glaciers response to climate change and have large implications on the development of glacial lakes. The thickness of the debris is largely heterogeneous over the course of the glacier thereby promoting ablation in areas of thin debr
Toolkit, 2016
The Flood Forecasting and Early Warning in Transboundary River Basins: A Toolkit, produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), is a guide book for building capacity of flood management practitioners in transboundary river basins in the Asia-Pacific region.
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