Regional representation of glaciers in Chandra Basin region,western Himalaya,India

Hamtah and Chhota Shigri are two nearby, well monitored glaciers of western Himalaya, lying in the same climatic zone and driven by the same climatic conditions. In this study, topographical characteristics of both the glacier have been explored to understand the role of topography in controlling the glacier response. Further, their topographical characteristics and possible response towards climatic variations have been compared with each other and also with that of the other glaciers in the basin to find out the suitability of these two glaciers to be considered as representative of the region. Multi sensor and multi temporal remote sensing data have been used to carry out to fulfill the objectives. It is found that being in the same climatic zone, the mean accumulation area ratio of Chhota Shigri is 54% and Hamtah is 11% between 1980 and 2014. In comparison to Hamtah, Chhota Shigri glacier has a small upslope area, low compactness ratio indicating the ability of the glacier to receive direct precipitation and solar radiation. The analysis revealed that the Chhota Shigri glacier has a closer resemblance with the other glaciers in the region than Hamtah glacier. Also, the topographical settings of Chhota Shigri glacier are suitable for recording and reflecting year-to-year climatic variations.     

Evaluation of indicators for desertification risk assessment in part of Thar Desert Region of Rajasthan using geospatial techniques

Desertification has emerged as a major economic, social and environmental problem in the western part of India. The best way of dealing with desertification is to take appropriate measures to arrest land degradation, especially in areas prone to desertification. This requires an early warning system for desertification based on scientific inputs. Hence, in the present study, an attempt has been made to develop a comprehensive model for the assessment of desertification risk in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India, using 23 desertification indicators. Indicators including soil, climate, vegetation and socio-economic parameters were integrated into a GIS environment to get environmental sensitive areas (ESAs) to desertification. Desertification risk index (DRI) was calculated based on ESAs to desertification, the degree of land degradation and significant desertification indicators obtained from the stepwise multiple regression model. DRI was validated by using independent indicators such as soil organic matter content and cation exchange capacity. Multiple regression analysis shows that 16 indicators out of 23 were found to be significant for assessing desertification risk at a 99% confidence interval with \(R^{2}=0.83\). The proposed methodology provides a series of effective indicators that would help to identify where desertification is a current or potential problem, and what could be the actions to alleviate the problem over time.