---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '22519'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Glacier health across High Mountain Asia (HMA) is highly heterogeneous and
    strongly governed by regional climate, which is variably influenced by monsoon
    dynamics and the westerlies. We explore four decades of glacier energy and mass
    balance at three climatically distinct sites across HMA by utilising a detailed
    land surface model driven by bias-corrected Weather Research and Forecasting meteorological
    forcing. All three glaciers have experienced long-term mass losses (ranging from
    −0.04 ± 0.09 to −0.59 ± 0.20 m w.e. a−1) consistent with widespread warming across
    the region. However, complex and contrasting responses of glacier energy and mass
    balance to the patterns of the Indian Summer Monsoon were evident, largely driven
    by the role snowfall timing, amount and phase. A later monsoon onset generates
    less total snowfall to the glacier in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during
    May–June, augmenting net shortwave radiation and affecting annual mass balance
    (−0.5 m w.e. on average compared to early onset years). Conversely, timing of
    the monsoon’s arrival has limited impact for the Nepalese Himalaya which is more
    strongly governed by the temperature and snowfall amount during the core monsoon
    season. In the arid central Tibetan Plateau, a later monsoon arrival results in
    a 40 mm (58%) increase of May–June snowfall on average compared to early onset
    years, likely driven by the greater interaction of westerly storm events. Meanwhile,
    a late monsoon cessation at this site sees an average 200 mm (192%) increase in
    late summer precipitation due to monsoonal storms. A trend towards weaker intensity
    monsoon conditions in recent decades, combined with long-term warming patterns,
    has produced predominantly negative glacier mass balances for all sites (up to
    1 m w.e. more mass loss in the Nepalese Himalaya compared to strong monsoon intensity
    years) but sub-regional variability in monsoon timing can additionally complicate
    this response.
article_number: '104001'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: letter_note
author:
- first_name: T E
  full_name: Shaw, T E
  last_name: Shaw
- first_name: E S
  full_name: Miles, E S
  last_name: Miles
- first_name: D
  full_name: Chen, D
  last_name: Chen
- first_name: A
  full_name: Jouberton, A
  last_name: Jouberton
- first_name: M
  full_name: Kneib, M
  last_name: Kneib
- first_name: S
  full_name: Fugger, S
  last_name: Fugger
- first_name: T
  full_name: Ou, T
  last_name: Ou
- first_name: H-W
  full_name: Lai, H-W
  last_name: Lai
- first_name: K
  full_name: Fujita, K
  last_name: Fujita
- first_name: W
  full_name: Yang, W
  last_name: Yang
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
- first_name: F
  full_name: Pellicciotti, F
  last_name: Pellicciotti
citation:
  ama: Shaw TE, Miles ES, Chen D, et al. Multi-decadal monsoon characteristics and
    glacier response in High Mountain Asia. <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>.
    2022;17(10). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008">10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008</a>
  apa: Shaw, T. E., Miles, E. S., Chen, D., Jouberton, A., Kneib, M., Fugger, S.,
    … Pellicciotti, F. (2022). Multi-decadal monsoon characteristics and glacier response
    in High Mountain Asia. <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>. IOP Publishing.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008">https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008</a>
  chicago: Shaw, T E, E S Miles, D Chen, A Jouberton, M Kneib, S Fugger, T Ou, et
    al. “Multi-Decadal Monsoon Characteristics and Glacier Response in High Mountain
    Asia.” <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>. IOP Publishing, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008">https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008</a>.
  ieee: T. E. Shaw <i>et al.</i>, “Multi-decadal monsoon characteristics and glacier
    response in High Mountain Asia,” <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>, vol. 17,
    no. 10. IOP Publishing, 2022.
  ista: Shaw TE, Miles ES, Chen D, Jouberton A, Kneib M, Fugger S, Ou T, Lai H-W,
    Fujita K, Yang W, Fatichi S, Pellicciotti F. 2022. Multi-decadal monsoon characteristics
    and glacier response in High Mountain Asia. Environmental Research Letters. 17(10),
    104001.
  mla: Shaw, T. E., et al. “Multi-Decadal Monsoon Characteristics and Glacier Response
    in High Mountain Asia.” <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>, vol. 17, no. 10,
    104001, IOP Publishing, 2022, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008">10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008</a>.
  short: T.E. Shaw, E.S. Miles, D. Chen, A. Jouberton, M. Kneib, S. Fugger, T. Ou,
    H.-W. Lai, K. Fujita, W. Yang, S. Fatichi, F. Pellicciotti, Environmental Research
    Letters 17 (2022).
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:24Z
date_published: 2022-09-16T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-06T11:38:33Z
day: '16'
doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008
extern: '1'
intvolume: '        17'
issue: '10'
keyword:
- Glacier
- Long-term mass balance
- Monsoon
- Snowfall
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9008
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Environmental Research Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1748-9326
publication_status: published
publisher: IOP Publishing
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Multi-decadal monsoon characteristics and glacier response in High Mountain
  Asia
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 17
year: '2022'
...