Abstract ID: 3.12191 | Accepted as Poster | Poster | TBA | TBA

Until now, precipitation patterns at high altitude have remained mysterious since there is a significant lack of observational data, and models lack the resolution required to deal with the dense topographical contrasts characteristic of mountain ranges. This paper uses the mass balance of glaciers in High Mountain Asia as a proxy measurement for local precipitation, to determine the extent of the knowledge gap. The annual glacier mass balance is determined from remote sensing, and modeled temperature fields from the CHELSA dataset are used to determine annual melt rates. This is done following the same methods as used in Immerzeel, et. al (2015), which concluded that models significantly underestimate the amount of precipitation falling at high altitude.