Our research on GLOF and debris flows in Central Asia addresses three main themes:
(i) Documenting changes in glacial lakes in the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains;
(ii) Developing predictions of the evolution of glacial lakes;
(iii) Developing and applying new methods of rainfall forecast for early warning of the debris flow formation.
As part of this work, we have developed new data sets on the bathymetry of glacial lakes located in Kazakhstan (Kapitsa et al., 2023) and a spatially-referenced database of GLOF and debris flows in the Tien Shan. The projections of glacial lake formation and expansion, developed in these projects (Kapitsa et al., 2017), is implemented by the Kazakhstan State Agency for Mudflow Protection (KSAMP) in the operational monitoring and management of glacial lakes.
We work with the ECMWF to develop and implement a new precipitation forecast product (ecPoint Rainfall) to improve early warning of flash floods and debris flows in the mountains of Central Asia (Mamadjanova et al., 2023).
