@article{RegmiBookhagen2022,
  author    = {Regmi, Shakil and Bookhagen, Bodo},
  title     = {The spatial pattern of extreme precipitation from 40 years of gauge data in the central Himalaya},
  series = {Weather and climate extremes},
  volume    = {37},
  journal   = {Weather and climate extremes},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {2212-0947},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.wace.2022.100470},
  pages     = {14},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The topography of the Himalaya exerts a substantial control on the spatial distribution of monsoonal rainfall, which is a vital water source for the regional economy and population. But the occurrence of short-lived and high-intensity precipitation results in socio-economic losses. This study relies on 40 years of daily data from 204 ground stations in Nepal to derive extreme precipitation thresholds, amounts, and days at the 95th percentile. We additionally determine the precipitation magnitude-frequency relation. We observe that extreme precipitation amounts follow an almost uniform band parallel to topographic contour lines in the southern Himalaya mountains in central and eastern Nepal but not in western Nepal. The relationship of extreme precipitation indices with topographic relief shows that extreme precipitation thresholds decrease with increasing elevation, but extreme precipitation days increase in higher elevation areas. Furthermore, stations above 1 km elevation exhibit a power-law relation in the rainfall magnitude-frequency framework. Stations at higher elevations generally have lower values of power-law exponents than low elevation areas. This suggests a fundamentally different behaviour of the rainfall distribution and an increased occurrence of extreme rainfall storms in the high elevation areas of Nepal.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BrickerSchwanghartAdhikarietal.2017,
  author    = {Bricker, Jeremy D. and Schwanghart, Wolfgang and Adhikari, Basanta Raj and Moriguchi, Shuji and Roeber, Volker and Giri, Sanjay},
  title     = {Performance of Models for Flash Flood Warning and Hazard Assessment},
  series = {Mountain research and development},
  volume    = {37},
  journal   = {Mountain research and development},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {International Mountain Society},
  address   = {Lawrence},
  issn      = {0276-4741},
  doi       = {10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-16-00043.1},
  pages     = {5 -- 15},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {The 2015 magnitude 7.8 Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks weakened mountain slopes in Nepal. Co- and postseismic landsliding and the formation of landslide-dammed lakes along steeply dissected valleys were widespread, among them a landslide that dammed the Kali Gandaki River. Overtopping of the landslide dam resulted in a flash flood downstream, though casualties were prevented because of timely evacuation of low-lying areas. We hindcast the flood using the BREACH physically based dam-break model for upstream hydrograph generation, and compared the resulting maximum flow rate with those resulting from various empirical formulas and a simplified hydrograph based on published observations. Subsequent modeling of downstream flood propagation was compromised by a coarse-resolution digital elevation model with several artifacts. Thus, we used a digital-elevation-model preprocessing technique that combined carving and smoothing to derive topographic data. We then applied the 1-dimensional HEC-RAS model for downstream flood routing, and compared it to the 2-dimensional Delft-FLOW model. Simulations were validated using rectified frames of a video recorded by a resident during the flood in the village of Beni, allowing estimation of maximum flow depth and speed. Results show that hydrological smoothing is necessary when using coarse topographic data (such as SRTM or ASTER), as using raw topography underestimates flow depth and speed and overestimates flood wave arrival lag time. Results also show that the 2-dimensional model produces more accurate results than the 1-dimensional model but the 1-dimensional model generates a more conservative result and can be run in a much shorter time. Therefore, a 2-dimensional model is recommended for hazard assessment and planning, whereas a 1-dimensional model would facilitate real-time warning declaration.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StolleSchwanghartAndermannetal.2018,
  author    = {Stolle, Amelie and Schwanghart, Wolfgang and Andermann, Christoff and Bernhardt, Anne and Fort, Monique and Jansen, John D. and Wittmann, Hella and Merchel, Silke and Rugel, Georg and Adhikari, Basanta Raj and Korup, Oliver},
  title     = {Protracted river response to medieval earthquakes},
  series = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group},
  volume    = {44},
  journal   = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0197-9337},
  doi       = {10.1002/esp.4517},
  pages     = {331 -- 341},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Mountain rivers respond to strong earthquakes by rapidly aggrading to accommodate excess sediment delivered by co-seismic landslides. Detailed sediment budgets indicate that rivers need several years to decades to recover from seismic disturbances, depending on how recovery is defined. We examine three principal proxies of river recovery after earthquake-induced sediment pulses around Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city. Freshly exhumed cohorts of floodplain trees in growth position indicate rapid and pulsed sedimentation that formed a fan covering 150 km2 in a Lesser Himalayan basin with tens of metres of debris between the 11th and 15th centuries AD. Radiocarbon dates of buried trees are consistent with those of nearby valley deposits linked to major medieval earthquakes, such that we can estimate average rates of re-incision since. We combine high-resolution digital elevation data, geodetic field surveys, aerial photos, and dated tree trunks to reconstruct geomorphic marker surfaces. The volumes of sediment relative to these surfaces require average net sediment yields of up to 4200 t km-2 yr-1 for the 650 years since the last inferred earthquake-triggered sediment pulse. The lithological composition of channel bedload differs from that of local bedrock, confirming that rivers are still mostly evacuating medieval valley fills, locally incising at rates of up to 0.2 m yr-1. Pronounced knickpoints and epigenetic gorges at tributary junctions further illustrate the protracted fluvial response; only the distal portions of the earthquake-derived sediment wedges have been cut to near their base. Our results challenge the notion that mountain rivers recover speedily from earthquakes within years to decades. The valley fills around Pokhara show that even highly erosive Himalayan rivers may need more than several centuries to adjust to catastrophic perturbations. Our results motivate some rethinking of post-seismic hazard appraisals and infrastructural planning in active mountain regions.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StolleBernhardtSchwanghartetal.2017,
  author    = {Stolle, Amelie and Bernhardt, Anne and Schwanghart, Wolfgang and Hoelzmann, Philipp and Adhikari, Basanta R. and Fort, Monique and Korup, Oliver},
  title     = {Catastrophic valley fills record large Himalayan earthquakes, Pokhara, Nepal},
  series = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal},
  volume    = {177},
  journal   = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0277-3791},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.10.015},
  pages     = {88 -- 103},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}