ICIMOD is continuing with its work to produce an inventory of glaciers, glacial lakes, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the HKH region. After the successful completion of inventories for Bhutan and Nepal, efforts are underway to complete similar studies in Himalayan areas of China, India, and Pakistan in partnership with UNEP under a project supported by the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), Japan entitled ‘Inventory of Glaciers and Glacial Lakes and the Identification of Potential Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) Affected by Global Warming in the Mountains of the Himalayan Regions’. So far, three case studies have been completed in each of the participating countries. It is hoped that eventually an inventory can be prepared of the entire Himalayan region. The final progress report of the project is has been submitted.

Report & CD	Report & CD	Report & CD

MENRIS is coordinating and providing technical back-up for the collection and analysis of data related to transboundary air pollution monitoring for the Nepal site under the activities resulting from the 'Male' Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and its likely Transboundary Effects for South Asia'. A transboundary air pollution monitoring station was recently installed at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS) Rampur, Chitwan. A training course on sample collection, handling, and analysis was held there from 22-30 March with the objective of building national capacity and providing hands-on experience of the sampling and analysis of transboundary pollutants; the trainees were from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE), and Rampur IAAS. Technical support was provided by experts from the Swedish Environment Research Institute Ltd. (IVL), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Envirotech, UNEP RRC.AP, and SACEP.

In partnership with UNEP, ICIMOD has embarked on establishing a three-part monitoring station for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SOI) Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) research project, with components at ICIMOD’s training centre in Godavari, at Nagarkot, and at ICIMOD itself (for more information on ABC see www-asianbrowncloud.ucsd.edu). Dr. Ramana from SOI brought the equipment to ICIMOD.

Sampler: For carbonaceous aerosols, installed at Godavari, ICIMOD.	Nephelometer : For Scattering Coefficient

 

SESI Micro Pulse Lidar Model 1000

The central instrument is a micro pulse lidar (MPL) from SESI which will be used for atmospheric measurement of aerosols and cloud parameters. The MPL provides high sensitivity and high resolution atmospheric backscatter data, calibrated using a high accuracy internal radiation calibration system which is automatically maintained. The aerosol concentration profile is extracted from analysis of the combined molecular and aerosol signals. Meteorological application parameters are derived from the data set to obtain the boundary layer height, cloud base height, and cloud vertical extent. ICIMOD is installing the MPL to measure aerosol concentrations over Kathmandu, providing a snapshot of polluted layers and an indication of intercontinental transport.

Under its remit to investigate and develop locally appropriate and useful GIS applications, MENRIS has developed a case study of Kirtipur Municipality, a small town close to Kathmandu, on the use of GIS for planning and development at the municipality level. An extensive database has been prepared which includes high-resolution satellite imagery – IKONOS. Aerial orthophotos have been generated for the entire municipality that can be integrated with other information to provide a visual perspective. As a part of this, ICIMOD and Kirtipur Municipality jointly organised a one-day workshop on Municipal Level Planning using GIS on 27 March. A detailed account of the study will be published to provide a reference and learning tool for other municipalities interested in following a similar route.

Areial Orthophoto	IKONOS

 Collaboration with the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) 

With the recent release of census data 2001 for Nepal, ICIMOD and CBS have joined hands to develop a publication on ‘Census 2001 Indicators of Nepal’ including a trend analysis. The objective is to present the key indicators of the Census 2001 with a trend analysis in a visual form for policy-planning purposes. The publication is planned for the latter part of the year