Polar Outreach Catalogue

The Altai-Sayan mountains geographically define the southern periphery of the Asian Arctic Basin. The Ob and Yenisey rivers are the only Siberian rivers that are fed by fresh water from the Altai-Sayan alpine glaciers. The water flowing from the Ob and Yenisey rivers accounts for 40% of the total river inflow into the Arctic Ocean. The 2,340 Altai-Sayan’s glaciers have been receding from the middle of 19th century, but there has been no precise estimation of the change in glacial areal extent and seasonal snow-cover and the consequent changes in water resources.

The main objective is to estimate changes in snow- glacial- and lake-covered areas, and glacier volume, at the head of Ob/Yenisey river basins over forty years, and also to simulate and forecast snow and glacial runoff variability.