Surface Pond Energy Absorption Across Four Himalayan Glaciers Accounts for 1/8 of Total Catchment Ice Loss

Glaciers in High Mountain Asia, many of which exhibit surface debris, contain the largest volume of ice outside of the polar regions. Many contain supraglacial pond networks that enhance melt rates locally, but no large‐scale assessment of their impact on melt rates exists. Here we use surface energy balance modeling forced using locally measured meteorological data and monthly satellite‐derived pond distributions to estimate the total melt enhancement for the four main glaciers within the 400‐km2 Langtang catchment, Nepal, for a 6‐month period in 2014. Ponds account for 0.20 ± 0.03 m/year of surface melt, representing a local melt enhancement of a factor of 14 ± 3 compared with the debris‐covered area, and equivalent to 12.5 ± 2.0% of total catchment ice loss. Given the prevalence of supraglacial ponds across the region, our results suggest that effective incorporation of melt enhancement by ponds is essential for accurate predictions of future mass balance change in the region. Plain Language Summary Glaciers in the high mountains of Asia provide an important water resource for millions of people. Many of these glaciers are partially covered by rocky debris, which protects the ice from solar radiation and warm air. However, studies have found that the surface of these debris‐covered glaciers is actually lowering as fast as glaciers without debris. Water ponded on the surface of the glaciers may be partially responsible, as water can absorb atmospheric energy very efficiently. However, the overall effect of these ponds has not been thoroughly assessed yet. We study a valley in Nepal for which we have extensive weather measurements, and we use a numerical model to calculate the energy absorbed by ponds on the surface of the glaciers over 6 months. As we have not observed each individual pond thoroughly, we run the model 5,000 times with different setups. We find that ponds are extremely important for glacier melt and absorb energy 14 times as quickly as the debris‐covered ice. Although the ponds account for 1% of the glacier area covered by rocks, and only 0.3% of the total glacier area, they absorb enough energy to account for one eighth of the whole valley's ice loss. Key Points We present the first catchment-scale study of supraglacial pond energy balance, using seasonal pond coverages and 5,000 parameter sets Ponds cover 1.0% of debris‐covered area (0.3% of total glacier area), yet energy receipts equate to 12.5 ± 2.0% of catchment annual mass loss Dai