Abstract
The climate change of the twentieth century had a pronounced effect on glacier environments of the Himalaya. The formation of supraglacial lakes and moraine dammed glacial lakes and glacial lake outburst flood is a major concern in countries such as Bhutan, China (Tibet), India, Nepal and Pakistan. This article depicts a semi-automated identification of glacial lakes in the Sikkim Himalaya, from the normalised difference water index-based methodology of Resourcesat-1 LISS III satellite data. The inventory shows the existence of 320 glacial lakes out of which 85 are new ones in the study area compared to 2003 inventory. Remote sensing proves to be the best tool in detecting and monitoring the hazardous nature of glacial lakes in the Indian Himalaya. To establish the hazard potential of glacial lakes, a systematic inventory of these lakes from high-resolution satellite data and in situ field survey is recommended.