ИСТИНА

We have completed the first stage of an assessment of remote hazards in Wakhan and Zebak districts of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan. It included a literature review of publications in English and in Russian and a short fieldwork in the region in 2014. We compiled Inventory of lakes in Wakhan and Zebak districts using automated interpretation of glacial lakes in Landsat 8 OLI satellite images, and visual interpretation in very high resolution satellite images. The inventory includes 347 lakes with an area over 5,000 m2 each. We have prepared an album of image interpretation maps for all lakes. We have also studied dynamics of selected glacial lakes through comparative interpretation of satellite imagery. We have developed a geographical information system (GIS) including: - vector layers: lakes, possible remote hazards (outbursts, surging glaciers, rock avalanches and rockslides, potential debris flow origination sites, possible locations of river damming), hydrography, settlements, human activity zones, houses; - raster layers: satellite images, scanned topographic maps, digital elevation model. We have compiled a Map of remote hazards in Wakhan and Zebak Districts in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, using the Inventory of lakes and data received during field work in 2014. Finally, we have developed criteria of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazard assessment, assessed hazard in catchments of Wakhan and Zebak, and made a list of sites with the highest hazard.