Spatio-temporal changes in the Machoi glacier Zanskar Himalaya India using geospatial technology

Abstract We present the temporal changes of Machoi glacier, Zanskar region of the north-western Himalaya, India using multi-temporal Landsat satellite data from 1973 to 2018. The results suggest that the Machoi glacier has retreated consistently from last 45 years with an uneven retreat rate. The temporal fluctuations since 1973 AD reveal that the glacier snout has retreated ∼563 m at an average of ∼12.51 m yr−1. However, the snout has retreated at variable rates during different time intervals e.g., 80 m (average of ∼11.43 m yr−1) from 1973 to 1980 AD, 120 m (average of ∼12.0 m yr−1) from 1980 to 1990 AD, 123 m (average of ∼12.3 m yr−1) from 1990 to 2000 AD, 128 m (average of ∼12.8 m yr−1) from 2000 to 2010 AD and 112 m (average of ∼14 m yr−1) from 2010 to 2018AD. The highest rate of snout (∼14 m yr−1) retreat during 2010–2018 AD is linked to the changing climate in the region as observed from the meteorological data. The analysis of meteorological data suggests that during this period temperature as well as the liquid precipitation have increased due to global warming whereas the extent of solid precipitation has decreased which might be the possible causes of higher retreat of Machoi glacier.