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Water from glaciers for the arid regions: monitoring the Baltoro

13.07.2012

In the arid climate of northern Pakistan, glacial melt water represents nearly all water usable by the population. Monitor the evolution of the Baltoro, is the objective of the project, elaborated by the researchers of Polytechnic and of the University of Milan and coordinated by EvK2Cnr, within the Seed and Paprika projects. Their mission to control the instruments placed on the glacier a year ago, was successfully concluded in recent weeks. The data collected and the measurements are a fundamental basis of information to calibrate the hydrological model of the basin in order to assess the availability of the resource over time and the danger of floods resulting from the extreme weather events. The preliminary analysis of the data indicates that compared to Alpine and Himalayan, Baltoro glaciers have a very particular dynamic, because its areal variations are very limited; evident instead, especially in middle-lower, are the thickness reductions.

Photo (c) Ruud / Flickr