Do synoptic scale atmospheric processes drive surface winds in the valleys of Ladakh, in the Northern Himalaya?

Abstract

Synoptic scale atmospheric circulation patterns over the Northern Himalaya have attracted attention from the scientific community in recent years, since an anomalous trend of cooling temperatures and increasing precipitation was identified in the Karakoram Range. Meanwhile, valley wind regimes are of interest to governmental organisations in Ladakh, informing land management projects and policies, which, amongst other aims, aspire to avoid desertification of arable lands by the encroachment of sand dunes. Despite this interest, minimal information regarding the location and extent of sand dunes in Ladakh, and whether synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation patterns drive valley winds, is available to inform project and policy proposals. Using satellite imagery to identify sand dunes and dunefields in Ladakh, this study shows sand dunes occur in Ladakh over a much greater altitudinal range than previously recognised. Then, by comparing the prevailing wind direction inferred from sand dunes and the wind directions characteristic of synoptic-scale processes, this study will demonstrate that synoptic-scale processes do not drive valley winds in Ladakh.