Hemendra Singh Gusain

• M.Sc, M.Tech, Ph.D
• Researcher at Defence Research and Development Organisation

The rivers of the Himalayas heavily rely on the abundance of snow, which serves as a vital source of water to South Asian countries. However, its impact on the hydrological system of the region is mainly felt during the spring season. The melting of snow and consequent base flow significantly contribute to the incoming streamflow. This article exam...

In the Himalayan zone, snow is a crucial component of cryosphere for efficient use of water resource management. The major objective of this research paper is to analyse snow dynamics in the Beas River basin using MODIS satellite images from 2007-2018, thus revealing important insights into the region’s snow cover variability and its potential impa...

Glacier retreat represents a highly sensitive indicator of climate change and global warming. Therefore, timely mapping and monitoring of glacier dynamics is strategic for water budget forecasting and sustainable management of water resources. In this study, Landsat satellite images of 2000 and 2015 have been used to estimate area extent variations...

Glaciers and snow are critical components of the hydrological cycle in the Himalayan region, and they play a vital role in river runoff. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the glaciers and snow cover on a spatiotemporal basis to better understand the changes in their dynamics and their impact on river runoff. A significant amount of data is necess...

In this study, 29 glaciers of the Bhagirathi basin, Garhwali Himalayas, have been monitored using remote sensing (RS) satellite images for more than a decade. Bhagirathi basin has sub-basins, namely Bhagirathi, Bhilangana, Pilang, Jahnvi, Jalandhari, and Kaldi. The glaciers area > 5 km ² has been considered apart from a few small glaciers to estima...

Large-scale debris cover glacier mapping can be efficiently conducted from high spatial resolution (HSR) remote sensing imagery using object-based image analysis (OBIA), which works on a group of pixels. This paper presents the spectral and spatial capabilities of OBIA to classify multiple glacier cover classes using a multisource approach by integ...

Object-based features like spectral, topographic, and textural are supportive to determine debris-covered glacier classes. The original feature space includes relevant and irrelevant features. The inclusion of all these features increases the complexity and renders the classifier’s performance. Therefore, feature space optimization is requisite for...

The Himalayan cryosphere system is a major source of freshwater supply for the Indian subcontinent. The rivers originating from the Himalaya are strongly influenced by the behaviour of glaciers depending upon the regional climatic variables. Therefore, understanding the mass budget of glaciers is important. In the present study, we discuss the hydr...

Image-based fusion is a state-of-art process to extract vital information by combining the two or more images acquired from different satellite sensors. Recently launched (26 th September 2016) ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organization) Ku-band (13.5 GHz) based Scatterometer Satellite (SCATSAT-1) as an active microwave sensor can offer the day-nig...

In the present paper, spatio-temporal variability in surface radiative energy fluxes has been estimated for snow/ice-covered Beas River basin, lower Western Himalaya, India using remote sensing technology and evaluated with wireless sensor network (WSN) collected data at various elevation levels. Surface energy fluxes are derived using Landsat-8 sa...

Classification is one of an important approach used in remote sensing application. The accuracy assessment of classified dataset is one of the major concerns while considering large scale region. While dealing with large areas like undulating Himalayas where topography is varying at each point, we have to consider each pixel existing over there in...

Study of snow dynamics is an essential parameter for scientific studies such as climate changeClimate change, cryospheric hazard mapping, energy budget assessment, management of water assets, etc. In this paper, an analysis of snow dynamics in the Beas river basin, Western HimalayaHimalayas, India has been carried out using Moderate Resolution Imag...

Karakoram mountains range in north-western part of Himalayas is about 500 km in length and hosts some of the world’s highest peaks and longest glaciers. It is characterized by steep slopes and polar climate. Snowfall and avalanches are observed almost throughout the year. Many lives have been lost in the past in these mountains due to avalanches. T...

Over Himalayas, the detection of seasonal snow cover variations via remote sensing is challenging due to the presence of rugged terrain and shadow effects. Moreover, traditional per-pixel-based change detection methods less competent to identify the inner-pixel subtle variations with coarse resolution satellite imagery. In the present work, we have...

Continuous and accurate monitoring of earth surface changes over rugged terrain Himalayas is important to manage natural resources and mitigate natural hazards. Conventional techniques generally focus on per-pixel based processing and overlook the sub-pixel variations occurring especially in case of low or moderate resolution remotely sensed data....

Detection and validation of spatiotemporal snow cover variability in the Himalayas using Ku-band (13.5 GHz) SCATSAT-1 data The present study evaluates the potential of Ku-band Scatterometer Satellite-1 1 (SCATSAT-1) for quantification of spatiotemporal variability in snow cover area 2 (SCA) over Himalayas (Himachal Pradesh) India. The SCA has been...

: The scatterometer satellites are originally designed to measure the wind speed and direction with the help of sigma-naught (𝜎 0). With the advantage of near real-time tracking facilities during day and night even in extreme climate conditions, SCATSAT-1 has made tremendous progress in emerging scientific domains such as cryosphere, land hydrolog...

In Western Himalaya, an average 49 person die every year due to snow avalanche activities and this death rate is very high as compared to other Asian countries. A snow avalanche accident was observed on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar (CT) road axis at avalanche site number CT-8 located near Chowkibal village in Kupwara district, union territo...

In the present work, the potential of Scatterometer Satellite (SCATSAT-1) data (operated at Ku-band 13.515 GHz) is evaluated to estimate the binary Snow Cover Maps (SCMs) over a part of the Western Himalayas, India. Three classifiers namely, K-Means Clustering (KMC), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Linear Spectral Mixing (LSM) has been implemente...

The present disclosure discloses an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based imaging system 100 for monitoring and forecasting about hazards and disasters, such as landslide, flood, drought, and the like. The UAV based imaging system 100 can include imaging units 102, such as a tracking camera 102-1 and a main camera 102-2 that can be operatively couple...

The Ku-band (13.5 GHz) based scatterometer is the main sensor onboard Scatterometer Satellite (SCATSAT-1) launched on 26th September 2016 by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The SCATSAT-1 satellite sensor provides daily updates on the conditions of atmospheric, oceanographic, agriculture and cryospheric parameters. Moreover, it delivers d...

Mapping and monitoring of the glacier changes over different regions of Earth surface is a challenging task due to regional rugged topography and climate conditions. This study focused on the monitoring of snow or ice cover changes over Chhota-Shigri glacier, Western Himalaya, India. A subpixel-based change detection (SCD) approach is proposed, aim...

Overall warming trends in mean and maximum temperature of NWH (1991–2015) and CH (2001–2012) have been observed. In contrast to the situation at the global scale, the data of both NWH and CH reflect higher rate of warming in maximum temperature than minimum temperature. Consequently, there has been an increase in Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) ove...

Snow avalanches pose severe threat to lives and property in snowbound regions of the Western Himalaya. The Karakoram Range in Western Himalaya has the highest mean elevation and is the most glaciated region compared to other ranges. Snowfall in this range is frequent even during summer season. Snow accumulation on mountain slopes results into frequ...

Spatio-temporal variability of snow surface temperature (SST) over a large area is an important parameter for the study of ecology, environment, climatology, glaciology, hydrology, physical processes, surface characteristics, melt estimation, flood forecasting, hazard assessment etc. on the earth surface. Of the modern technologies in cryospheric...

Himalayan snow cover has an important contribution in the socioeconomic development of the northern Indian states. Snow cover area and extent in the inaccessible Himalayan region can be estimated using geospatial techniques. In the present study, snow cover area (SCA) has been estimated for western Himalayan climate zones i.e. Lower Himalayan Zone...

Snow cover is one of the essential element affecting the climate system. Large temporal and spatial variability has been observed in the snow cover of the globe as well as corresponding response of the backscattered values in the microwave region. In present study, temporal variation in backscattered values of Ku-band microwave remote sensing da...

SASE has developed an automated method for retrieval of snow/ice surface temperature (SST) using Landsat-8 thermal data and the method was validated using wireless sensor network data in Beas River Basin, India.

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has number of applications in snow and avalanche research. In the rugged and inhospitable conditions of Himalaya, it’s not possible to collect snow cover and terrain related data using ground observations at high temporal and spatial resolution. In such scenario, remote sensing and G...

Study of cryosphere-atmosphere interaction is important for understanding of various physical processes over ice sheet and glacier surfaces. These physical processes are important for quantitative estimation of melt and sublimation of ice sheet and glaciers. In the present study, incoming shortwave radiation flux, net shortwave radiation flux,...

The aim of this study is to generate a reliable dynamic snow avalanche hazard map using analytical hierarchy process method based on multisource geo-spatial data for the Chowkibal–Tangdhar (C–T) road axis in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India. Avalanche-prone areas of C–T axis have been demarcated using three causative parameters, i.e., terrain, ground...

In the present paper, incoming shortwave radiation flux, net shortwave radiation flux, net longwave radiation flux, and net radiation flux have been estimated at 1-km spatial scale for the ice sheet in East Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Terra-MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) products (i.e., land and atmospheric data products)...

This paper proposed an algorithm for automated retrieval of snow/ice surface albedo using Landsat-8 satellite images and validation with wireless senor network data in Beas River basin, India. Cloud-free Landsat-8 images of winter season 2016–2017 have been used to estimate snow/ice broadband albedo. Albedo maps generated using satellite images hav...

In recent years, the significant increase in research on spatial information is observed. Classification or clustering is one of the well-known methods in spatial data analysis. Traditionally, classifiers are generally based on per-pixel approaches and are not utilizing the spatial information within pixel, called mixels which is an important sourc...

Snow is an essential component of the cryosphere and spatio-temporal variability of snow cover over large Himalayan region is important for climate change studies, regional and global energy budget, aquatic cycles and managing water resources, etc. In the present paper, analysis of snow cover area (SCA) variation for more than a decade period from...

An avalanche accident was occurred on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir about 6 km from Chowkibal village. One light passenger vehicle was swept away in the avalanche and 10 persons lost their lives. In this communication, we study the cause of avalanche accident and simulate the snow avalanche flow us...

An avalanche accident was occurred on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir about 6 km from Chowkibal village. One light passenger vehicle was swept away in the avalanche and 10 persons lost their lives

Dokriani Glacier is regarded as one of the important glaciers of Bhagirathi River basin, which fed river Ganges. The length of the glacier is about 4.6 km, and snout elevation is about 4028 m m.s.l. The mass balance of this glacier was calculated using field-based measurements for few years during 1994 to 2000. However, due to remote and poor acces...

Scientists from the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, Chandigarh, resolve the accident of a car parked on the Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in the Tangdhar region of Jammu and Kashmir. The car was awaiting snow clearance ahead, when around 2:30 pm on 5 January, an avalanche hit the car, sweeping it in a cloud of snow. Of the 12 people cau...

In this paper, an automated method for retrieval of snow surface temperature (SST) in Beas River Basin, India, using Landsat-8 thermal data is proposed. Digital number (DN) values of thermal data were converted into Top of Atmospheric (TOA) radiance. Surface radiance has been estimated from TOA radiance using a single channel method. The estimated...

In the present study we estimate the velocity and thickness of the Patseo glacier, Himachal Pradesh, India. The average velocity of the glacier was estimated as ~5.47 m/year using co-registration of optically sensed images and correlation (COSI-Corr) method. The glacier thickness was found to vary between 12 and 278 m, with an average value 59 m. T...

An avalanche accident was occurred on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir about 6 km from Chowkibal village. One light passenger vehicle was swept away in the avalanche and 10 persons lost their lives. In this communication, we study the cause of avalanche accident and simulate the snow avalanche flow u...

The impact of climate change over Indian Himalaya has received a great deal of attention worldwide. The present study focuses the recent winter climate, snow cover and albedo variability over north-west Himalaya (NWH). We analyze the trends of climate and snow cover variations in past two decades (1991–2011) and compare with the recent years 2001–2...

This article describes an attempt to map snow cover accurately from other land covers using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data of 500 m spatial resolution. The workflow includes reflectance modelling, computing snow-cover fraction (SCF) and establishing an empirical relationship between the SCF and normalized difference snow inde...

In the present study, radiation parameters incoming shortwave radiation flux, reflected shortwave radiation flux, albedo have been observed on ice sheet near ‘Maitri’ research station, East Antarctica. Surface energy fluxes have been estimated using snow-meteorological parameters. Air temperature, surface temperature, relative humidity, wind speed,...

In this paper, an algorithm is proposed for generation of snow depth maps. The efficacy of the algorithm has been established through a case study in lower and middle Himalayas, India. The algorithm is a modified version of the spatial interpolation method proposed earlier in Swiss Alps. The method uses discrete point data supplemented with remotel...

In this paper analysis of the snow-meteorological parameters recorded in the Gangotri glacier region have been presented. Parameters maximum temperature, minimum temperature, snowfall, snow cover thickness, incoming shortwave radiation flux, reflected shortwave radiation flux, albedo have been recorded at observation station ‘Bhojbasa’. Meteorologi...

In this paper analysis of the snow-meteorological parameters recorded in the Gangotri glacier region have been presented. Parameters maximum temperature, minimum temperature, snowfall, snow cover thickness, incoming shortwave radiation flux, reflected shortwave radiation flux, albedo have been recorded at observation station ‘Bhojbasa’. Meteorologi...

Sub-surface heat flux plays an important role in the energy balance of snow cover, glaciers and ice sheets, and varies with the density of snow/ice media. In this paper, we report experimental observations of the sub-surface heat flux conducted in different snow and ice media in Antarctica. Experiments were conducted on low density fresh snowpack,...

Glaciers are large persistent bodies of ice which form where accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years and often centuries. Information about the size and spatial extents of glacier is of utmost importance for many research applications such as mass balance studies, melt runoff modeling, glacier hazard prediction modelling and snow-...

Siachen glacier is one of the largest glaciers outside Polar region having length of more than 70 km. It lies in Karakoram Himalayas between 35.2°N-35.6°N latitude and 76.8°-77.3°E longitude with an elevation range of 4000 m to above 7000m mean sea level. This valley glacier having width of 1-8 km is fed by many tributary glaciers including two lar...

Varied inputs in the form of snow and weather parameters are required in scientific models pertaining to avalanche and weather forecasting. These are usually collected from various field observatories at different locations in the snowbound regions; however, the vast snow-covered areas generally occur at high altitudes, which are remote and inacces...

Correlation of sub-pixels between two images acquired at different time using optical remote sensing has been used widely for estimation of glacier velocity recently. The technique has been proven for large glaciers with fairly reasonable estimate of glacier velocities as published by many researchers. However, the technique has not been applied to...

In this paper, a model has been developed to estimate surface temperature of Antarctic ice sheet using thermal bands of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor images and in situ surface temperature measurements. The brightness temperature of snow/ice surface of Antarctica has been estimated for MODIS bands 31 and 32 using Plan...

The surface ice velocity has a major impact on the health and fate of the glacier. Measurement of ice velocity can help in modeling the glacier dynamics. This article presents sub-pixel image correlation technique (COSI-Corr) for calculating glacier ice velocity. It is difficult to obtain sufficient ice velocity data with conventional glaciologica...

The aim of the present study is to investigate the temperature and snowfall trends in the cryosphere region of north-west Himalaya during winter season. 37 observation stations of North-West Himalaya have been considered for the study and these stations receive snowfall during winter season. The snow meteorological data period of the parameters ma...

The aim of this letter is to estimate incoming and net shortwave radiation fluxes of large snow covered area of western Himalaya and to evaluate the results with in situ observations. Radiation fluxes are estimated at spatial level using remote sensing data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor and Shuttle Radar Topograp...

Surface energy fluxes of the ice sheet close to oases (ice-free land regions) are crucial in the case of retreating ice sheet and growing oasis areas. This study presents a four-year record of the meteorological parameters, radiative and turbulent energy fluxes at the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet, close to Schirmacher Oasis in Dronning Maud Land...

In this paper, algorithms to estimate narrowband to broadband albedo (NBBA) of snow using Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) sensor images have been developed for Indian western Himalayan region. The in-situ measurements of spectral reflectance and transmitted spectral solar irradiance on s...

Present study compares the estimated radiative and turbulent energy fluxes at the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet during summer and winter in Dronning Maud land, East Antarctica. Hourly snow meteorological parameters were recorded and analysed during winter months (May, June, July and August) of the year 2007 and summer months (November, December,...

This study estimates energy and mass balance at the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet close to a non-glaciated area. An automatic weather station was installed on the ice sheet, near an ice free area of Schirmacher Oasis in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Hourly snow-meteorological parameters were recorded and observed during the summer of the y...

Western Himalayan region of India was mainly delineated into three principle zones: Lower, Middle and Upper. These zones were broadly categorized on the basis of snow meteorological parameters and cover a large snowy area of thousands of square kilometer. Weather parameters, snowpack properties, snowpack structure and avalanche activities were obse...

Study of snow pack structure and properties has been done simultaneously on East, West, North, South aspects and level ground at Patsio (3800m-4200ma.s.l) bowl of Great Himalaya using snow pit observations and translucent profile of the snow pack in natural sun light. Resistance profile of the layered structure also has been taken using Ram penetra...

Hourly snow-meteorological parameters were observed over continental Ice sheet in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica near Indian Research Station Maitri for a period of 12 months from 1 March 2006 to 28 Feb 2007 using an Automatic Weather Station. It is located at S 7047’40.9”, E 1141’43.1” at an altitude of 395 m a.s.l, and measures air tempera...

A new snowpack stability test, quantitative step-loading block test (QSLBT) has been developed and used operationally by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment during the winter 2004-05 at Patsio Research Station in Great Himalayan range. This test is simple, takes less time in measurement, and effectively communicates the results. In this test...

A new snowpack stability test, quantitative step-loading block test (QSLBT) has been developed and used operationally by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment during the winter 2004-05 at Patsio Research Station in Great Himalayan range. This test is simple, takes less time in measurement, and effectively communicates the results. In this test...

In the present study three small uniform mountain slopes were selected carefully for snow-pit observation in the Patsio bowl located in the higher latitudes of Himachal Pradesh in the Great Himalayan region. Totally 27 snow-pit observations were taken, with nine snow-pit observations in a study plot of each slope. At each observation point, 19 snow...

Pir-Panjal and Great Himalayan ranges in Western Himalaya of India fall in low (2000-4000m) and mid (3500-5300m) altitude ranges respectively and gets extensively covered by seasonal snow-cover during winters. While winter climate of Pir-Panjal range is close to maritime snow climate characterized by heavy snowfall, mild temperatures and deep snow...