Himalayan Cryosphere, Climate and Disaster Research Center (HiCCDRC)

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In celebration of World Glacier Day 2025, researchers and students are invited to contribute by presenting their research findings and ideas. Opportunities are available for both poster and paper presentations, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Interested participants are encouraged to contact hiccdrc@ku.edu.np for further information and submission guidelines. More details are coming soon.


09/09/2024: Prof. Sonam Wang, from the Ojeong Resilience Institute (OJERI) at Korea University, South Korea, visited the Himalayan Cryosphere, Climate and Disaster Research Center (HiCCDRC) at Kathmandu University. During the visit, he delivered an insightful lecture titled "The Third Pole in Crisis: Opportunities, Challenges, and Climate Actions," addressing the pressing environmental issues and potential solutions for the region.

HIMALAYAN CRYOSPHERE, CLIMATE AND DISASTER RESEARCH CENTER (HICCDRC) AT KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY IS STRONGER THAN BEFORE!

We would like to welcome Dr. Mohan Bahadur Chand, Assistant Professor as a new Glaciologist at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering (DESE), School of Science (SoS), Kathmandu University (KU). The HiCCDRC, KU has now three well-known Nepalese glaciologists and in a process to grow further. The HiCCDRC team produced 35 young glaciologists (29 from Nepal, 3 from Pakistan, 2 from Afghanistan and 1 from India) from 2013 to 2019. Again, we are preparing to produce another lot of 12 Environmentalists with Specialization in Glaciology from the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, SOS, KU.

News Bulletin about the flood in the upstream of the Budhigandaki River due to snow avalanche into the Birendra Tal, in Gorkha district

21 April 2024, Sunday: About the news of the flash flood in Samagaun area in the morning of Sunday, 21 April 2024 (9 Baishakh 2081) due to snow valance into the Birendra Tal (area: 0.26 km2), Gorkha district, we have analyzed the available hydrological and satellite data of that area. There are two automatic water level radar stations in the Budhigandaki River at Ghap (2,089 m) and Jagat (1,350 m) installed with the financial support from the Water Resources Research and Development Center (WRRDC), Government of Nepal. The satellite images provided by Planet Labs showed that there was a snow avalanche on 21 April 2024 when compared with the satellite image of 20 April 2024 (dates on the satellite images are of US time zone). From these satellite images we can confirm that the lake did not breach out due to that snow avalanche. Therefore, the flood in the downstream was not due to the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).

 Figure 1. Planet Labs satellite images of Birendra Tal in Manaslu region, Gorkha (Taken from the Facebook page of Cryospheric Society of Nepal (CSN). 

Full Bulletin: acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:b8564d38-4217-4362-89c4-0e316b8a7f62 

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Prof. Dr. Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, Coordinator of the Himalayan Cryosphere, Climate and Disaster Research Center (HiCCDRC), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Science, Kathmandu University visited Korea University from 3 to 8 August 2022 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the collaborative research, exchange program, technology transfer and sharing of knowledge and information among the Mid Latitude Region Network (MLRN) members under the Third Pole Climate Initiative. The representative from eight partner institutions signed the MoU.  

Signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among the Mid Latitude Region Network (MLRN) members.

Representatives from partner institutions after signing the MoU.

The HiCCDRC has started the study of a debris-covered glacier in Gorkha district, Gandaki Province by installing an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) with a snow depth sensor and ablation stakes in Gorakh Glacier since June 2022.