CAWa - Central Asian Water

(Chair: Abror Gafurov, German Research Center for Geosciences)

A robust assessment of seasonal water availability is important in order to achieve a fair distribution of water resources, particularly with regard to conflicting interests of irrigated agriculture and energy production in Central Asia. Moreover, a profound understanding of climate change impacts on long-term water availability is important for the implementation of adaptation measures. Thus, scientific progress is required to develop proper methodologies for the assessment of seasonal water resources and for the prediction of future changes of flow regimes.

The proposed session aims at an improved understanding of hydrological processes in Central Asia and their potential modifications due to climate variability and change. The topics include, but are not necessarily limited to, observations of hydrological components and processes (e.g. tracer experiments), in-situ and remote sensing based monitoring techniques, hydrological modeling applications, and seasonal forecasting approaches. The session will include an in-depth discussion on ongoing research and will identify research gaps in the field with particular regard to the variability of hydrological processes (e.g. glacier melt, snow melt) and the role of ongoing global warming.