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Currently Working On
CLASSIK — Flood modelling, Karnali watershed
Recently Presented At
Second National Water Conference, Nepal
Based At
The Small Earth Nepal, Kathmandu
Meteorologist & Climate Researcher

Understanding
our changing
climate.

Research Assistant at The Small Earth Nepal — studying precipitation patterns, glacial dynamics, and river systems across the Himalaya and South Asia to build climate resilience.

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Cryosphere
Glacial lake monitoring · GEE
Hydrology
SWAT+ · HEC-RAS · ADCP
Climate Data
ERA5 · APHRODITE · WFDE5
Ashok Ghimire
Kathmandu, Nepal
Why This Research Matters

The Himalaya is changing faster than anywhere else on Earth.

47%
increase in glacial lake area across Nepal between 1977 and 2010 — expanding meltwater bodies that raise the risk of catastrophic outburst floods downstream.
1.5×
The Hindu Kush Himalaya has warmed 1.5 times faster than the global average since 1979 — threatening the "Third Pole," the largest freshwater reserve outside the polar regions.
80%
Nepal receives roughly 80% of its annual rainfall in just four months (June–September), leaving the remaining eight months dependent on snowmelt and diminishing groundwater.
240M+
Over 240 million people across South Asia depend on Himalayan river systems for drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower — all directly affected by cryosphere change.

Sources: ICIMOD Regional Report 2019 · Shean et al. 2020 (Science Advances) · DHM Nepal · IPCC AR6 Chapter 10

Ashok Ghimire fieldwork
Nepal · 2026
Who I Am

Science shaped by the mountains.

I'm a meteorologist and climate researcher based in Kathmandu, passionate about understanding how our changing climate reshapes the rivers, glaciers, and communities of the Himalaya.

Currently a Research Assistant at The Small Earth Nepal, I work across hydrology, cryosphere science, and data capacity building — turning large gridded datasets into insights that matter on the ground.

Based in
Kathmandu, Nepal
Current Role
Research Assistant, SEN
Selected Work

Research Highlights

ICE 2 Water
★ ICE 2 Water · Cryosphere

ICE 2 Water — Glacial Lake Monitoring

33 years (1992–2025) of glacial lake change across 12 major lakes in Nepal, tracked via Google Earth Engine. The interactive platform is hosted online and remains active.

Explore project
River survey
Hydrology · ADCP

SWOT River Discharge Measurement

Field measurement of discharge across 7 transboundary rivers between Nepal and India — providing ground-truth for NASA's SWOT satellite mission.

Explore project
Training
Capacity Building

Climate Data Training — Kathmandu & Surkhet

Hands-on Python training for early-career researchers in Nepal — ERA5, APHRODITE, and WFDE5 for real watershed applications.

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Technical Arsenal

Tools & Technologies

Hover a card to see how each tool is used in practice. Tap on mobile.

Python
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Python
Core tool for climate data processing — ERA5, APHRODITE, WFDE5. Used for trend analysis, visualisation, and discharge calculations.
Data Science · Analysis · Visualisation
Google Earth Engine
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Google Earth Engine
Used to monitor 5 glacial lakes across 32 years (1992–2024) using Landsat imagery for the ICE 2 Water project.
Remote Sensing · Cloud GIS
GIS / QGIS
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GIS & QGIS
Spatial data analysis, watershed delineation, and flood mapping. Also taught in capacity building workshops.
Spatial Analysis · Mapping
ERA5 · APHRODITE · WFDE5
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Gridded Reanalysis
ERA5, APHRODITE, WFDE5 and APN Ali datasets processed for precipitation and temperature trend analysis across South Asia.
Climate Data · Multi-decadal
ADCP
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ADCP
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler — used to measure discharge across 7 major Nepal-India transboundary rivers for the SWOT project.
Field Hydrology · River Survey
HEC-RAS 2D
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HEC-RAS 2D
2D hydraulic modelling for flood inundation and hazard maps in the Karnali River system under present and future CMIP6 scenarios.
Flood Modelling · Hydraulics
SWAT+
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SWAT+
Hydrological simulation of present and future discharge in the Karnali watershed using CMIP6 climate projections through 2100.
Watershed Hydrology · CMIP6
Remote Sensing / Landsat
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Remote Sensing
Landsat 5 TM & Landsat 8 OLI imagery (30m) processed via GEE to map glacial lake boundaries and quantify multi-decadal area change.
Satellite Imagery · GLOF Hazard
Overleaf / LaTeX
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Overleaf & LaTeX
Academic paper writing and formatting for journal submissions. Also supported SOHAM Nepal in drafting and formatting research publications.
Academic Writing · Publishing

Interested in my research?

Whether you'd like to discuss glacial dynamics or collaborate on a project, I'm always open to connecting.

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