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Automated weather stations in Gilgit-Baltistan; where modern science meets unforgiving nature

December 21^st, 2021

If you travel from the coast towards the north of Pakistan, the land steadily gains altitude. Islamabad is at 1,770 feet with a population of more than a million people. Now imagine a place with an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet with a population of only a few dozen. I present Burche. This gorgeous location is a few hours steep hike from Cheerah village in Bagrot Valley, which in turn is a couple of hours ride from Gilgit city. Home to four famous peaks and thirteen glaciers of varying sizes, about 16,000 people live in the valley in nine different villages.

Shepherds bring their goats to Burche in the summer for grazing. They come down to the villages during the winter season but for the rest of the year they live in rudimentary huts surrounded by towering majestic mountains. In this wilderness where time stands still, with no technology or modern infrastructure, an odd modern contraption stands out - an automated weather station.

Two shepherds residing in their remote hut, located in Burche– 3-hour hike from Bagrot Valley, Gilgit. Photo: UNDP Pakistan/Jamil Akhtar

Because temperatures are rising faster in this part of the world than almost anywhere else, automated weather stations are an increasingly important part of life. The region is experiencing melting glaciers that create ice and moraine-dammed lakes that can overflow and cause tremendous devastation.

The phenomenon is known as a glacial lake outburst flood. It’s estimated that more than 5,000 glacier lakes in the Himalayas have unstable moraines.

The weather stations gather data and measure all the important surface weather conditions and are installed in locations vulnerable to glacial lake flooding. UNDP has installed four different stations in the valley with the support of the Adaptation Fund.

The information is used by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) to conduct hydrological modelling which calculates when and where floods are likely to happen. Alerts are then issued to cell phones and the media. Because they don’t require much power, the stations run on a single solar panel and can operate practically anywhere.

Automated weather stations in Gilgit-Baltistan; where modern science meets unforgiving nature

The project, supported by Green Climate Fund, is expanding climate information surveillance by installing 50 of these automated weather stations in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Accurate flood and weather forecasting is essential to local residents, who are increasingly vulnerable to the melting ice sheets of the so called ‘Third Pole’, the Asian mountain range which Gilgit-Baltistan forms part of, and which has the world’s third largest fresh water reserves after the Arctic and Antarctica.

“We are in a state of constant distress, not sure when we will be wiped out by floods,” says local resident Bibi Tawoos.

Shisper Glacier began surging at the beginning of 2018 and has since become even more unpredictable.

Originating from Shisper Peak, the glacier is 12 kilometres long and covers nearly 30 square kilometres. It also intercepts heavy glacial melt from the neighbouring Muchuhur glacier.

Since its initial surge in January 2018 when it started to gradually slide downstream, it sped up to 43 metres a day in May and June. Two disastrous floods occurred in the following two years.

“Households were asked to evacuate; power plants and irrigation channels were destroyed as a result of the flood water, and it became hard to get drinking water,” says villager Mehmood Abbas.

The weather station is the first step in an early warning system that could protect an estimated 1,500 people who live and work in that area.

The weather station provides real time data to safeguard the communities from any potential glacial flood and it’s available to everybody through the PMD website. River discharge measuring gauges and an alarm system have also been installed to further monitor and evaluate the condition of the lakes and give families as much notice as possible of threats to their safety.

Local communities also play an important role in keeping themselves and their neighbours safe.

Hazard Watch Groups and Community Based Disaster Risk Management Committees have been established to help communities keep abreast of potential threats. Residents have been trained in disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness to respond quickly and effectively when trouble strikes. There’s a special focus on empowering women and creating livelihood opportunities for them.

“Glacial floods are now a fact of life in this region, UNDP is working with communities to ensure that they have early warning, information and the means to protect themselves and their families,” says Knut Ostby, Resident Representative, UNDP Pakistan

Footnotes

Words: Ayesha Babar, Communications Analyst, UNDP Pakistan

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FootNotes

Words: Ayesha Babar, Communications Analyst, UNDP Pakistan

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Automated weather stations in Gilgit-Baltistan; where modern science meets unforgiving nature

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