RAPID: Field investigation to collect snow, debris flow and sediment deposition and the glacier-melt induced peak flows and landslide in the Chamoli region, Uttarakhand, India

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On 7 Feb 2021, a cataclysmic flood triggered cascading events near Chamoli, in the state of Uttarakhand in the Himalayan range of India, resulting in washing away of a bridge and cutting off villages near the border areas of China. About 15 km downstream of the avalanche location, the Rishi Ganga Hydroelectric project was washed off and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Tapovan project was also damaged. The cause of this glacier melt-induced landslide and flooding is suspected to have links to global warming and glacial retreat. The data to be collected for this project will inform whether this natural disaster was triggered by snowpack and glacial melt versus land-use change and deforestation, or a combination of these factors, that cause devastating landslides and floods in the ecologically fragile, headwater region of the Ganges. Understanding hydrologic and geomorphic processes in high-altitude environments is essential to closely evaluate if human-induced changes are contributing to extreme events. Improvements in our ability to predict glacial outburst/landslide/flooding events in high elevation, glaciated areas such as the Himalayan region has potential to mitigate impacts of future disasters.Changing climate and deforestation are impacting hydrological processes in the high elevation regions of the Himalayan range. Climate change is causing glacial retreat and changes in snowpack dynamics, while deforestation and land use change are modifying snow energy budgets and soil moisture dynamics. These impacts are compounded by one another and may result in extreme flood events. The data to be collected for this project will inform gaps in knowledge on snowmelt runoff and soil moisture dynamics and landslide vulnerability in the hillslopes of the Himalayan Range. The time-bound perishable data will be valuable for identifying the mass of snow and volume of runoff, as well as understanding the hydrological and landslide processes associated with this extreme event. The proposed RAPID project leverages a unique opportunity to collect information at the site in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IITR), which is located within 200 miles of the site. This proposal is co-funded by the Hydrologic Sciences and Geomorphology & Land-use Dynamics programs, as well as the Division of Earth Sciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.