Cryosphere Monitoring in Central Asia

Abstract The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has highlighted that there are currently major gaps in the global climate observation system, particularly in high mountain environments. Developing and emerging countries lack observations on climate variables. In the mountains of the Central Asian Tien Shan and Pamir where cryosphere is one of the main water resources for the region, data is very scarce. This data however is essential for planning for future mitigation and development strategies regarding climate change impacts. There is a need for long-term improvements in the understanding of cryosphere dynamics in the Central Asian mountains, particularly of processes related to snow, glaciers and permafrost (see also Sect. 2.2 The state of the cryosphere). These processes govern eventually the water availability in downstream countries, where water quality and quantity problems become more acute, and potential negative impacts of accelerated cryosphere degradation become a reality. Central Asia has a rich history of cryospheric observation. The observed trends and changes are detailed in Sect. 2.2 . “The state of the cryosphere”. The systematic cryosphere monitoring network was discontinued between the early 1980s and 2000s for various reasons. Around 2010, initial efforts were made to re-establish the glacier monitoring network in Central Asia. These efforts have continued in collaboration between Central Asian and international scientists to (i) collect high quality data, and (ii) exchange knowledge and train capacities of young scientists and students. Cryosphere monitoring in the Tien Shan and Pamir has progressed considerably since these early efforts. As of today, glacier observations in the region provide a relatively dense network and data is shared with the scientific community through open-access data centers. Over the past five years, the long-term and continuous monitoring efforts have been expanded to include snow and permafrost observations, as well as an improved network of automated weather stations. Like the glaciological measurements, this complementary and extensive dataset is made available to the international scientific community. It is now a priority for Central Asian countries to take a decisive step forward in transdisciplinary and transboundary efforts, in order (1) to integrate the collected data into operational applications by the hydrometeorological services for improved disaster risk reduction and water resource management and (2) to establish sustainable, government-funded cryospheric monitoring.

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