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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1997 Impact of land-use and climatic changes on hydrology of the Himalayan Basin: A case study of the Kosi Basin Keshav Prasad Sharma University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Sharma, Keshav Prasad, "Impact of land-use and climatic changes on hydrology of the Himalayan Basin: A case study of the Kosi Basin" (1997). Doctoral Dissertations. 1961. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1961 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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IMPACT OF LAND-USE AND CLIMATIC CHANGES ON HYDROLOGY OF THE HIMALAYAN BASIN: A CASE STUDY OF THE KOSI BASIN BY KESHAV PRASAD SHARMA Diploma in Science, Tribhuvan University, 1975 Degree in Atmospheric Physics, Tribhuvan University, 1979 Master o f Technology in Hydrology, University o f Roorkee, 1982 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University o f New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment o f the Requirements for the Degree o f Doctor o f Philosophy in Earth Sciences May, 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9730844 Copyright 1997 by Sharma, Keshav Prasad All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9730844 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c 1997 Keshav Prasad Sharma Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. .W-t- [J j H Dissertation Director, Berrien Moore III, Director of the Institute for the Studv of* Earth. Oceans, and Space. Charles S. Vorosmarty, Research Assistant Professor of Eartnj Sciences and Earth, Oceans, and Space. Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources. Paul A. Mavewski, Professor of Glaciology in Earth Sciences and Earth, Oceans, and Space. MatthewT^a^^Ass^ntProfessor of Hydrogeology. May 9, L997 Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Timely completion of this dissertation work was possible only through support, guidance, constructive comments, and continuous encouragement that I received from my advisor Professor Berrien Moore III throughout this research work. I am grateful to all the members of my committee for allowing me to work with them and for their thought­ ful comments on the draft. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Charles J. Vorosmarty and Professor S. L. Dingman for their help, guidance, and several discussions. I acknowledge the enormous help provided by Dr. Sharad. P. Adhikary and Kiran Shankar in Nepal and Karen Bushold at the University of New Hampshire. Several colleagues and staff at the University of New Hampshire and at the De­ partment of Hydrology and Meteorology in Nepal have helped me in different aspects of research work, field work and data collection. I am particularly thankful to: Dilip Gautam, Narendra Khanal, Dirk Metzko, and W. Laible in Nepal and Balazs Fekete and Nancy Voorhis at the University of New Hampshire. Several pieces of information, obtained from Annette Schloss, Fay Rubin, John Canfield, Alastair Lough, and Scott Robeson, and discussions with Dr. Janet Campbell and Professor Loren D. Meeker helped to refine some of the chapters of this dissertation. I would like to acknowledge the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Kathmandu for making hydrological and meteorological data available for this study. The department also made available different facilities for carrying out field and labora­ tory works at its central office in Kathmandu and at the basin office in Dharan. The iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. German Development Service (GDS) provided partial support for some of the field activities and travels. Some supplementary hydrological and meteorological data were obtained from Eastern Region Road Maintenance Project, Dharan. Forest Resource Information System Project of the Department of Forest, Nepal provided land-use data for eastern Nepal in digital format. Lastly, I want to express my thanks to all the members of my family for supporting me with their love and affection during the long period of research work. Many thanks are due to my daughter Kalandika who helped me to enter the volumes of data into computer. This work has been supported by the NASA Mission to Planet Earth grant number NAGW 2669. Most of the researches were carried out at the Complex Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hamp­ shire. V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................iv LIST OF TA BLES................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................... xiii GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATION..................................................................... xvii ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................... xx CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................. 3 Objectives .................................................................................................. 7 Research Questions ..................................................................................... 7 Scope and Limitations of the Study ............................................................. 8 II STUDY AREA.......................................................................................... 11 Basin Characteristics .................................................................................. 14 Hydrometeorological Characteristics ........................................................... 23 III REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.............................................. 27 Land-use changes in the Himalayas ................................................................ 27 Catastrophic degradation .............................................................. 28 Normal Processes .......................................................................... 29 Greening trend ............................................................................. 31 Realities........................................................................................ 32 Land-use and climate change ................................................................... 33 Sensitivity of the Himalayan clim ate ......................................................... 34 Discussion ................................................................................................ 37 IV COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA............................................ 39 Meteorological and hydrological d a t^ ....................................................... 39 Land-use and anthropogenic d a ta .............................................................

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