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Environmental Intelligence for Nepal

$Ice is solid at 0°C. At 1°C it’s water. That’s the entire physics behind what happened in Nepal this week. Global climate targets get discussed in fractions of a degree, and a half-degree sounds small in a global average. At altitude, on a glacier or a slope holding back a lake, it’s the line between solid and liquid, and Nepal is where that line gets tested first. We flew over the corridor and documented what’s there: houses buried to the second floor in sediment, a steel bridge snapped and folded into the current, a building with nothing left but its foundation slab, and now, days later, rescue teams working the mud on foot. We’re showing all of it because it needs to be the case for building differently: real monitoring of glacial lakes and unstable slopes before disaster strikes, real data sharing across borders, real post-disaster assessment, and early warning that reaches every household, not just the ones near a gauge. To the Army, Police, and Armed Police Force who were in this within hours. To the volunteers who didn’t wait to be asked. To local governments still working out of half-buried offices. To every country and organization that sent help: thank you. Hundreds of families lost someone this week. Many still don’t know what happened to someone they love. That’s the number that matters. #Nepal #NepalFloods #BhoteKoshi #ClimateJustice #GLOF DisasterPreparedness by @geo.sutra$

On the morning of 11 October 2026, a debris-laden flood swept down the Budhi Gandaki in northern Gorkha.

We put together what happened using open satellite imagery, river gauges, terrain data and a flow model.

→ It started at a fresh slope failure on a tributary of the Syar Khola in the Tsum valley, at about 3,800 m. A 6.3 km² strip of bare, scoured ground runs from the scar down to the Budhi Gandaki. → At Arughat, 65 km downstream, the river rose more than 5 m in 30 minutes. The gauge was destroyed at 8.43 m, so the real peak was never recorded. → The flood travelled 254 km to the Gandak barrage. The Trishuli rose 0.7–0.8 m, and the Narayani about 0.2 m at Devghat.

The evidence fits a landslide that briefly dammed the stream and then broke through, but it doesn't prove it. The mapped areas still need checking in the field.

Full technical assessment: https://geosutra.com/assets/reports/budhi-gandaki-flood-2026-technical-assessment.pdf by @geo.sutra

One line, four GPS, zero agreement 📱❌

#GIS #Fieldwork #nepal #startup #gps by @geo.sutra

Field Diaries

#geosutra #fyp #startup #field by @geo.sutra

Satellite analysis of three western Nepal river basins shows soil erosion rising as farmland spread from 1995 to 2015, with steep farms losing the most soil and forests protecting it best.

Source: Chalise & Kumar (2020). PLOS ONE 15. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231692 · CC BY

#SoilErosion #LandUse #Karnali #Rapti #SoilConservation

Credits:
Photo: Bijay Chaurasia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted by GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

Urban growth modelling shows Kathmandu Valley's built-up area doubling by 2050, with building in floodplains more than doubling and more growth in socially vulnerable areas.

Source: Mesta, Cremen & Galasso (2022). Scientific Reports 12. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09347-x · CC BY

#KathmanduValley #UrbanGrowth #FloodRisk #Liquefaction #UrbanPlanning

Credits:
Photo: Saddam Hussain Ansari, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Landsat imagery: USGS. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025-26, processed by GeoSutra
Land cover: Impact Observatory, Microsoft and Esri, 10 m annual LULC, CC BY 4.0. Analysis: GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

Climate projections for the Karnali River show sharper seasons: more water in the monsoon, less in the dry months, lower winter hydropower and higher irrigation demand.

Source: Pradhananga, Nepal, Kamal & Hafeez (2025). Hydrology Research 56. doi.org/10.2166/nh.2025.193 · CC BY

#Karnali #Hydropower #WaterEnergyFood #ClimateChange #Nepal

Credits:
Photo: Sherparinji, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted by GeoSutra
Source: EC JRC/Google, Global Surface Water (Pekel et al. 2016, Nature). Map: GeoSutra
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025-26, processed by GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

Twenty years of satellite data show nearly four-fifths of Nepal's forest fire area burns from March to May, and a new deep learning map shows where the risk is highest.

Source: Mishra, Panthi, Poudel & Ghimire (2023). Fire Ecology 19. doi.org/10.1186/s42408-022-00162-3 · CC BY

#ForestFire #DeepLearning #FireSeason #RemoteSensing #Nepal

Credits:
Photo: Susmitasatyal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted by GeoSutra
MODIS MCD64A1 v6.1 burned area, NASA LP DAAC. Analysis: GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

Five years of national data show elephants and leopards cause the most attacks and deaths, and that villages, not parks, are becoming the main hotspots of human-wildlife conflict in Nepal.

Source: Acharya, Paudel, Neupane & Köhl (2016). PLOS ONE 11. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161717 · CC BY

#HumanWildlifeConflict #Leopard #Elephant #Tiger #Conservation

Credits:
Photo: Atudu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted by GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

The Global Big Butterfly Count Nepal 2026 (GBBCN 2026) brought together 149 participants across 25 locations, 15 districts and 6 provinces, recording an incredible 173 butterfly species and 558 individuals! 🌿

From common species to rare and remarkable finds, this year’s count highlights the incredible diversity of butterflies across Nepal and the value of community participation in documenting our biodiversity.

A heartfelt thank you to all the participants, local partners, supporters and collaborators who made GBBCN 2026 possible. 💚

Every butterfly counts! 🦋

#GBBCN2026 #GlobalBigButterflyCount #ButterflyCountNepal #GreenalayaNepal #ButterflyConservation by @geo.sutra

Satellite and field data show Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park's forest expanding since 2001, with dense cover bouncing back after a sharp dip around 2013.

Source: Karki, Bhatta & Pandey (2025). Discover Environment 3. doi.org/10.1007/s44274-025-00205-x · CC BY-NC-ND (redraw figures)

#Shivapuri #KathmanduValley #ForestRecovery #Carbon #NationalParks

Credits:
Photo: Sangyam adventurer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted by GeoSutra
Landsat imagery: USGS. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2021-22, processed by GeoSutra
Landsat imagery courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, processed by GeoSutra
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025-2026, processed by GeoSutra
Boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal / OCHA via geoBoundaries, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Map: GeoSutra by @geo.sutra

#startup #geosutra #reels #nepal #dumb by @geo.sutra

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