Inventory and Status of Glaciers in the Pir Panjal Range Kashmir Basin Between 1980 and 2020

The study aims to investigate watershed-wise glacier inventory, their observational changes and topographic influence on the glaciers in the Pir Panjal range of the Kashmir basin from 1980 to 2020. In total, 122 glaciers (0.01 km(2)-0.96 km(2)) were mapped from 2020 image with a mean size of 0.13 km(2). The glaciers have shrunk from 25.74 km(2) in 1980 to 15.91 km(2) in 2020, with an area loss of 9.83 km(2). The Vishaw watershed hosts the maximum number of glaciers (55) and observed the highest glacier loss (6.1 km(2)) during the period. The results revealed that there is a strong topographic influence on the recession of the glaciers. Smaller glaciers (<= 0.5 km(2)) have receded more (similar to 38.89%) as compared to the larger glaciers (> 0.5 km(2)). South facing glaciers observed higher glacier loss as compared to North facing glaciers. Furthermore, high-altitude glaciers (< 3,800 m amsl and 3800-4000 m amsl) have witnessed higher recession than low-altitude glaciers. Glaciers having steep slopes of (> 20 degrees) experienced lower recession compared to glaciers having gentle slopes (< 20 degrees).