Almost one fifth of the population of the world is residing in South Asia. This region is also considered one of the most disastrous prone region of the world due to exponential increase in population. Above that climate change impacts makes this region more vulnerable towards food insecurity, and water stress. The annual renewable water availability per capita is decreasing, increasing stress on available water resources. Any disruption in hydrological regime due to climate change will have serious consequences on the livelihood of one fifth population of the world. Therefore socio-economic development of this region largely depends on the optimal and prudent management of these water resources. Therefore, urgency to understand the availability of water resources in terms of snow, ice and associated water resources and impacts of climate on them is essential so that holistic adaptation strategies could be formed to tackle complex issues of this region.  

The Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya (HKKH) includes Indus basin, shared by Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan, are major mountainous regions of South Asia. These mountain ranges often termed as “Water Towers of Asia” or “Third Pole of the world” constitutes extensive glaciated ice and snow region outside polar region fulfills the water needs of approximately 800 million people living in their catchments.
Pakistan being lucky to have these mountainous regions in the Northern part of the country making it a critical source of water for river Indus and its tributaries in the lower riparian part. The cryospheric resources in this part of the country needs to be monitored to track the peeping impact of climate change on them and tackle disastrous situation thereof.

Pakistan Meteorological Department, being a service department of the nation for weather and climate monitoring and early warnings against climate induced hazards keeps its presence in this rugged and tough terrain of mountains. PMD has established nearly 21 permanent conventional observatories in the snow and glaciated region of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to monitor their weather and climatology. Recently, with the advancement in monitoring equipment technology, PMD beefed up its meteorological monitoring network with induction of Automatic Hydro-Meteorological Stations that may serve continuously at high altitude and rugged terrains of HKKH region where regular existence of manned observatory is not possible. These instruments include Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), Water Level Gauges, and Discharge Gauges to measure different weather parameters, water levels, and stream flows. The information collected from these stations coupled with models and other tools results in generation of alerts and advisories to the nation/ local community against different disasters for example: Extreme weather events (snowfall events, extreme rain and snowfall spells), Flash Floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), Landslides etc.

Apart from meteorological monitoring in these areas, PMD is involved in situ and remote measurements and experiments on glaciers’ characteristics that includes melting rates, depth, debris cover, velocities of different glaciers and their mass balance. Regular field expeditions to different locations in snow and glaciated regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are made to ensure proper monitoring and accurate warnings. Many scientific and development projects are concluded in this regions to achieve departments overarching objectives. The resources of glacier and glacial/ para-glacial lakes are also assessed and monitored using remote sensing techniques. Few projects are still in progress for example Scaling-up of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction in Northern Pakistan renowned as “Pakistan GLOF-II Project”. Previously PMD concluded many projects successfully to extend its presence in the area for example Reducing Risks and Vulnerabilities from Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in Northern Pakistan, (Pakistan GLOF-I Project), Projection and Attribution of Stream Flow Composition at Mountain Rivers of China and Pakistan etc.

PMD also works in close collaboration with different National and International Universities and Organizations to add knowledge in the field of climate change, cryosphere sciences, disaster risks management and related sciences. Some of these institutions include National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (NDMA and PDMAs), different national universities, EV-K2-CNR-Italy, State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Sciences (SKLCS) Lanzhou-China, China Meteorological Administration (CMA), International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)-Nepal, University of Tokyo-Japan (Department of Civil Engineering) and ETH-Switzerland (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) etc.