Fieldwork at Lirung Glacier Nepal

Walter Immerzeel, Steven de Jong and Marc Bierkens have conducted field work at Lirung Glacier in Langtang National Park, Nepal (4000-5000 m amsl).

Marc, Walter and Steven at 5007 m altitude

Using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) they made overlapping photo’s of the glacier with the goal to construct a digital elevation model (4-10 cm resolution). In October, after the ablation season, Steven de Jong and a student will return for another flight. From the differences between the constructed elevation models they hope to estimate the mass-wasting of the glacier as well as the ice velocity based on advanced feature tracking.

In the same area, the scientists also conduct observations of precipation at various altitude to determine precipitation lapse rates.

The glacier velocities, mass-loss rates and precipiation lapse rates will be used to improve glacio-hydrological models of the area and eventually also large-scale analyses of the water resources in the greater Himalaya region.

See a pdf with a short presentation of the fieldwork and some preliminary results