High mountain Asia is collectively referred to as the ‘Third Pole’, as these mountains contain the largest ice reserve beyond the polar regions. Precipitation is the key driver of the Third Pole’s water cycle, feeding glaciers and snowpacks, and generating river flows, which provides water resources for millions of people living downstream. At the same time, precipitation can also be a key trigger for natural hazards, such as avalanches, floods, and landslides, causing many casualties and economic losses. Understanding the patterns, controls and mechanisms of (extreme) mountain precipitation is therefore important for the water security and safety in this region, but remains challenging due to complex interaction between extreme topography, the limited availability of data, and the complexity of (large-scale) atmosphere-land interactions.
Objectives
The overall aim of the ERC Advanced project “Drivers and Origins of high-altitude Precipitation at the Third Pole (DROP), is to investigate what controls the distribution of and changes in high-altitude precipitation on the Third Pole through three key objectives:
- Observing and reconstructing high-altitude precipitation patterns in climatically divers Third Pole regions.
- Understanding how the extreme topography controls high-altitude rain and snow dynamics at scales ranging from the valley to the synoptic scale.
- Explaining the causal relationships between moisture transport, land surface feedbacks and high-altitude (extreme) precipitation.
Approach
In DROP, a team of researchers led by principle investigator Walter Immerzeel addresses these objectives by combining (i) high-altitude meteorological observations and smart proxies via isotope measurements through ice cores and local/transect measurements of high-altitude precipitation, (ii) remotely sensed data from satellites, and (iii)) high-resolution atmospheric modelling. The research will be conducted over the entire Third Pole region and its surroundings, with a particular focus on two contrasting study regions located in the Pamir and the Himalaya.
