Laboratories

Laboratories:

Water Quality Lab
Remote Sensing & GIS Lab

Available Equipment:

Water Quality Lab :- Portable Water Quality Kit, Flame Photometer, pH meter, EC meter, Spectrophotometer, Type I Water Filtration System, Digital Titrator, Precision Weighing Balance
Remote Sensing and GIS Lab – ArcGIS 10.8, ERDAS Imagine 2020, Handheld GPS, DSLR Camera, PC and Printer and Scanner, SOI Toposheets
Meteorological Observatory - Sunshine recorder, Manual type Rain gauge, Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge with Data Logger, Stevenson Screen with Wet and Dry Bulb Thermometers, Max and Min. Thermometer, Evaporation Pan

Laboratory Capabilities for Measurement/Determination:

Water Quality Lab – Water quality parameters: pH, EC, Hardness (temporary and permanent), Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NO3-, SO4-2, Cl-, F-, PO4-, H4SiO4, etc.
Remote Sensing and GIS Lab – Satellite Image Processing, Watershed Analysis

Glacier Field Station Ladakh:

The “Glacier Field Station Ladakh” is attached with NIH-WHRC, Jammu
BACK GROUND

National Institute of Hydrology, Western Himalayan Regional Centre (NIH-WHRC), Jammu, has been operating the Glacier Field Station in the cold-arid cryospheric environment of Ladakh since its establishment in 2010 by the late Dr. Renoj Thayyen. Situated in the Ganglas catchment (including Leh town), the station serves as a key research hub for studying glaciers, snow, permafrost, hydrology, and meteorological processes that shape regional water availability and climate-related hazards.
A long-term mass balance monitoring programme for the Phuche and Khardung glaciers—at elevations of 3700 m, 4727 m, and 5600 m—has been established within this experimental catchment, providing continuous insights into glacier behaviour in a cold-arid setting. To address the critical but less explored component of permafrost, NIH has also deployed 25 ground-temperature loggers across the Upper Ganglas catchment for mapping and characterising frozen ground conditions.
Over the years, the catchment has also developed into a significant platform for national and international scientific collaboration through which the the cryosphere programme is further strengthened, enabling joint fieldwork, knowledge exchange, workshops, and shared research outputs.

Major research activities include:
• Mass balance stake measurements
• Downstream discharge monitoring using radar-based AWLR as well as manual gauging measurements
• Installation and operation of AWS across elevation gradients
• Surface energy balance studies
• Assessment of climate forcing on glacier dynamics
• Permafrost mapping and ground-temperature monitoring
• Geochemical and isotopic analyses for runoff source apportionment
• Evaluation of environmental pollutant impacts (e.g., black carbon, aerosols)

Field campaigns are undertaken twice annually, covering mass balance surveys, maintenance of monitoring systems, hydrological observations, and meteorological data collection. Alongside research, NIH conducts capacity-building and community awareness programmes across Leh, Ladakh region from the Station to enhance public understanding of cryosphere–hydrosphere-climate-hazards interactions.
These sustained efforts are significantly advancing scientific knowledge of Ladakh’s fragile cryosphere and its vital role in governing regional hydrology under accelerating climate change.

Name of OIC: Dr. Riyaz Ahmad Mir (Scientist), NIH-WHRC, Jammu

Experimental Catchment Network