Snowmelt contributions to discharge of the Ganges

Siderius, C; Biemans, H; Wiltshire, A; Rao, S; Franssen, WHP; Kumar, P; Gosain, AK; van Vliet, MTH; Collins, DN

Abstract

Himalayan headwaters supply large quantities of runoff derived from snowmelt and monsoon rainfall to the Ganges River. Actual snowmelt contribution to discharge in the Ganges remains conjectural under both present and future climatic conditions. As snowmelt is likely to be perturbed through climatic warming, four hydrological models, VIC, JULES, LPJmL and SWAT, appropriate for coupling with regional climate models, were used to provide a baseline estimate of snowmelt contribution to flow at seasonal and annual timescales. The models constrain estimates of snowmelt contributions to between 1% and 5% of overall basin runoff. Snowmelt is, however, significant in spring months, a period in which other sources of runoff are scarce.

Citation

Siderius, C., Biemans, H., Wiltshire, A., Rao, S., Franssen, W., Kumar, P., …Collins, D. (2013). Snowmelt contributions to discharge of the Ganges. Science of the Total Environment, 468-46, S93-S101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.084

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2014
• Journal: Science of The Total Environment
• Print ISSN: 0048-9697
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 468-46
• Pages: S93-S101
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.084
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.084