Glaciers serve as a natural regulator of regional water supplies. Pakistan’s glaciers are spread over an area of about 16933 Km². Pakistan is a home of 108 peaks above 6000m, and numerous peaks above 5000 and 4000. Five of the 14 highest independent peaks in the world are here. These glaciers are enormous reservoirs of fresh water and their melt water is an important resource which feed rivers in Pakistan. Glacier depletion, especially recent melting can affect agriculture, drinking water supplies, hydro-electric power, and ecological habitats. This can also have a more immediate impact on Pakistan’s economy that depends mainly on water from glacier melt. Melting of seasonal snowfall and permanent glaciers has resulted not only in reduction of water resources but also caused flash floods in many areas of Pakistan. Using satellite data the study of glaciers, has become possible. Comparison of Landsat images of Batura glacier for the year October 1992 and October 2000 has revealed that there is decrease of about 17 km2 in Batura glaciers. Biafo glacier has also retreated. Through this study efforts have been made to analyze future changes in glaciers because, changes cannot be assessed without baseline information on glacier extent.
ALOS data could be effectively used to compare with the historical data to detect changes in the glaciated area. ALOS PRISM data can also help in DEM generation for volume assessment. |
Abstracts 
