Assessment of Dynamics of Frontal Part of Gangotri Glacier, India, from 2017 to 2021 Using Remote Sensing Data

The current study employed multi-sensor data from 2017 to 2021 to demonstrate the rapid transformation of the Gomukh—the terminus of the Gangotri Glacier, Central Himalaya, India. Between 2017 and 2021, the Gangotri Glacier’s frontal zone underwent rapid changes, including the formation and merging of ephemeral lakes, the development of ice cliffs, and a shift in the meeting of melt streams from Raktvarn Glacier. The analysis showed that the snout of the Gangotri Glacier has lost an area of ~ 0.08 km2 from its frontal part from 2017 to 2021. During the investigation period, the snout of the Gangotri Glacier has receded by around 270 m. The mean surface velocity near the snout of the glacier was ~ 8 m/year from 2018 to 2019 according to Sentinel-2 datasets. Analysis of the glacier’s surface velocity revealed that the main Gangotri Glacier in the lower ablation zone below Chaturangi Glacier was moving at a slower rate than the glacier ice above the meeting point of the Chaturangi Glacier melt water stream. These findings are significant because they demonstrate how the dynamic glacial front changes with glacier ice area loss and indicate that increasing glacier recession should be anticipated as the climate warms, which may occasionally result in the formation of ephemeral lakes and generate a negative feedback loop.