Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2815-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2815-2017
Research article
 | 
11 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 11 Dec 2017

Surface lowering of the debris-covered area of Kanchenjunga Glacier in the eastern Nepal Himalaya since 1975, as revealed by Hexagon KH-9 and ALOS satellite observations

Damodar Lamsal, Koji Fujita, and Akiko Sakai

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Cited articles

Basnett, S., Kulkarni, A. V., and Bolch, T.: The influence of debris cover and glacial lakes on the recession of glaciers in Sikkim Himalaya, India, J. Glaciol., 59, 1035–1046, https://doi.org/10.3189/2013JoG12J184, 2013.
Bolch, T., Pieczonka, T., and Benn, D. I.: Multi-decadal mass loss of glaciers in the Everest area (Nepal Himalaya) derived from stereo imagery, The Cryosphere, 5, 349–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-349-2011, 2011.
Bolch, T., Kulkarni, A., Kääb, A., Huggel, C., Paul, F., Cogley, J. G., Frey, H., Kargel, J. S., Fujita, K., Scheel, M., Bajracharya, S., and Stoffel, M.: The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers, Science, 336, 310–314, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215828, 2012.
Bolch, T., Pieczonka, T., Mukherjee, K., and Shea, J.: Brief communication: Glaciers in the Hunza catchment (Karakoram) have been nearly in balance since the 1970s, The Cryosphere, 11, 531–539, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-531-2017, 2017.
Brun, F., Berthier, E., Wagnon, P., Kääb, A., and Treichler, D.: A spatially resolved estimate of High Mountain Asia glacier mass balances, 2000–2016, Nat. Geosci., 10, 668–673, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2999, 2017.
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Short summary
This study presents the geodetic mass balance of Kanchenjunga Glacier, a heavily debris-covered glacier in the easternmost Nepal Himalaya, between 1975 and 2010 using high-resolution DEMs. The rate of elevation change positively correlates with elevation and glacier velocity, and significant surface lowering is observed at supraglacial ponds. A difference in pond density would strongly affect the different geodetic mass balances of the Kanchenjunga and Khumbu glaciers.