Exploring Aufeis: Relevance of Icing and Ice Reservoirs for Climate Change Adaptation in the Trans-Himalaya of Ladakh, India

在半干旱的高山地区，冰冻圈融化的水对灌溉农业至关重要。水的可获得性，包括其季节性和可变性，是这些地区农业生产的关键因素。在气候变化的背景下，融水的数量和最大排放量的时间正在发生变化，导致农业生计安全的不确定性增加。由于拉达克跨喜马拉雅冰川的海拔较高，冰川融化发生的时间较晚，导致融化水供应延迟，因此春季经常出现缺水现象。为了弥合这些缺水的关键时期，自1980年代以来，在各种支流中引入了冰蓄水池，即通常所说的“人造冰川”。这些结构利用自然结冰(Aufeis)过程将冬季径流捕获为靠近耕作地区的冰，该过程发生在该地区的许多上游支流中。在以前的研究中，奥菲斯现象及其与当地可用水的相关性在很大程度上被忽视。该项目的总体目标是综合分析奥菲斯和冰库与拉达克农业实践的相关性。这包括评估不同类型冰库的效力及其作为气候变化适应战略的有用性。根据利用遥感时间序列分析的Afeis和冰库的清单，将对潜在的冰库地点进行建模。在下一步中，将对水库中积累的冰量进行评估，以了解它们对灌溉的补充作用。为此，我们将利用陆地摄影测量和遥感方法生成冬季和夏季的高空间分辨率数字地面模型。最后一步将侧重于审查当地居民对奥菲斯油田和冰库与农业生产和水供应的相关性的看法。将使用经验性的社会研究方法调查当地灌溉系统中冰水库的可持续实施以及社区主导的灌溉基础设施维护。该项目旨在促进更好地了解敏感高山地区在生计岌岌可危和冰冻圈变化的条件下的社会-水文相互作用。

In semi-arid high mountain regions, meltwater from the cryosphere is vital for irrigated agriculture. Water availability including its seasonality and variability are key factors of agricultural production in these regions. In the context of climate change, the amount of meltwater and the timing of maximum discharge is changing, resulting in increasing uncertainty for agrarian livelihood security. Due to the high altitude of glacier occurrence in the Trans-Himalaya of Ladakh, the melting of glaciers occurs much later and results in a delayed supply of melt water, due to which recurring water deficits in spring are common. In order to bridge these critical periods of water scarcity, ice reservoirs were introduced in various tributaries since the 1980s, commonly referred to as “artificial glaciers”. These structures capture winter runoff as ice close to the cultivated areas utilizing the natural icing (aufeis) process, which occurs in many of the upper tributaries in the region. The phenomenon of aufeis and its relevance for local water availability have been largely neglected in previous studies. The overarching aim of this project is an integrative analysis of the relevance of aufeis and ice reservoirs for agricultural practices in Ladakh. This includes assessments of the efficacy of different ice reservoir types and their usefulness as climate change adaptation strategies. Based on an inventory of aufeis and ice reservoirs using remote sensing time series analysis, potential sites for ice reservoirs will be modelled. In a further step, an assessment of the volume of ice accumulated in the reservoirs will be carried out in order to understand their supplementary contribution to irrigation. For this, we will use methods of terrestrial photogrammetry and remote sensing to generate high spatial resolution digital surface models for winter and summer. The final step will focus on examining the perception of the local population regarding the relevance of aufeis fields and ice reservoirs for agrarian production and water availability. Sustainable implementation of ice reservoirs in local irrigation systems and community-led maintenance of irrigation infrastructure will be investigated using empirical social research methods. This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of socio-hydrological interactions in a sensitive high mountain region under conditions of precarious livelihoods and cryosphere change.