Training workshop on glacier hydrological monitoring and assessment
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is pleased to announce an open call for participants in a training workshop on glacier hydrological monitoring and assessment to be held in Kathmandu and Langtang Valley, Nepal, from 21 April to 12 May 2014. The training workshop has been made possible through the generous assistance of the Regional Environment, Science, Technology and Health Office for South Asia at the US Embassy in Kathmandu, and with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu.
The training aims to bring together international scientific experts and early-career scientists from ICIMOD regional member countries to discuss approaches, problems, and advances in the monitoring of glacier hydrological resources. Through background theory and problem-based learning, the participants will develop understanding of the complexities of monitoring and assessing glacier water resources in the Himalayas, and will build collaborations with other early-career researchers in the region.
The reliability of discharge in glacierized basins can be critical for agriculture, hydroelectric power generation, and local water resources. With climate change however, the timing and magnitude of discharge in glacierized basins will be affected. Such changes may also be transient, depending on the current status of glaciers in the region. To quantify the effects of climate change on glacier contributions to streamflow, a comprehensive monitoring strategy is required to inform future modeling efforts. The monitoring strategy has three main components: observations of glacier mass balance, observations of basin hydrology and climatology, and observations of glacier area and volumetric change through remote sensing