Abstract:
Himalaya is one of the important mountain range in Asia. Himalayan range extends from Pamirs in west to Misluni Hills in east and is source of water to large rivers in this continent including Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra. Ganga river originates in Uttarakhand state. The river has its two important tributaries, namely Bhagirathi and Alaknanda. The region has importance as source of Ganga with second largest glaciers located in the basin. Due to world wide impact of climate change on water resources, including snow and ice, investigation of snow extent in the basin is important. NSIDC MODIS 8-day snow maps are used here to determine long term snow extent records for the Upper Ganga basin. The snow extent maps are post-processed and maximum and average cloud cover was reduced to 7% and 0.3% of maximum snow area respectively. A web application was also created for visualization of monthly and yearly maximum and minimum snow cover maps. The snow extent records so prepared will be useful in further hydrological studies in the basin. The web application will be useful to researchers and public to obtain information regarding historic temporal variation of snow cover in the basin.
