STUDY OF GLACIAL LAKES LOCATED IN SIKKIM HIMALAYAN REGION USING SATELLITE DATA ON ARC GIS

Abstract

Failures of glacial lake dams can cause outburst floods and represents a serious hazard. The potential danger of outburst floods depends on various factors like the lake’s area and volume, glacier area change, morphometry of the glacier and its surrounding moraines and valley, and glacier velocity. Remote sensing offers an efficient tool for displacement calculations and risk assessment of the identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes (PDGLs) and is especially helpful for remote mountainous areas. In this study we will study about the change in number of the glacial lakes and the area of those lakes in the Sikkim Himalayan region with the help of remote sensing and Arc GIS.