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<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-2584</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Modelling of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Scenarios from Chubda Tsho: Breach Sensitivity and Downstream Flood Dynamics in the Chamkhar Chhu Basin, Bhutan</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Namgay</surname>
<given-names>Tenzin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>De Silva</surname>
<given-names>Kasun</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wijayaratna</surname>
<given-names>Nimal</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rajapakse</surname>
<given-names>Lalith</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7967-247X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Centre for South Asia Water Management (UMCSAWM), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>04</day>
<month>06</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>23</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Tenzin Namgay et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2584/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2584/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2584/egusphere-2026-2584.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2584/egusphere-2026-2584.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are high-magnitude, short-duration hazards in glacier-fed Himalayan basins, where steep valley confinement can amplify downstream flood intensity. Despite the identification of Chubda Tsho as a potentially dangerous glacial lake in Bhutan, hydrodynamic assessments of potential outburst floods from this lake have not yet been reported. This study evaluates potential GLOF scenarios from Chubda Tsho using inflows generated by a calibrated and independently validated Hydrologic Engineering Center&amp;rsquo;s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS), coupled with two-dimensional (2D) simulations in the Hydrologic Engineering Center&apos;s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS). The model was calibrated against the July 2007 flood (NSE = 0.90) and validated using the August 2015 event (NSE = 0.56). Hydrodynamic performance was assessed using an extreme-event hydrograph from Cyclone Aila (2009) and compared with observed inundation extent. Results show good agreement, with a Critical Success Index (CSI) of 0.67, a total area difference of 2.56%, and close correspondence between simulated (1.60 km&amp;sup2;) and observed (1.56 km&amp;sup2;) inundation extents within the 16.14 km&amp;sup2; Chamkhar Valley model domain. The Chamkhar Valley contains approximately 8.41 km&amp;sup2; of habitable area. Three breach scenarios representing 50%, 75%, and 100% lake-volume release were simulated using empirically derived breach relationships. Flood waves reach the Chamkhar Valley between approximately 1 h 50 min and 2 h 15 min after breach initiation. Peak discharge increases from 2,114 m&amp;sup3; s⁻&amp;sup1; to 5,258 m&amp;sup3; s⁻&amp;sup1;, accompanied by nonlinear increases in peak depth (8.4&amp;ndash;12.8 m) and velocity (5.0&amp;ndash;7.6 m s⁻&amp;sup1;). While inundation extent remains constrained by valley geometry, flood depth and velocity increase disproportionately with breach magnitude. Results indicate that downstream hydraulic intensity is strongly influenced by breach magnitude, while warning time remains limited in confined Himalayan valleys. This highlights the value of validated 2D hydrodynamic modelling for GLOF hazard assessment in Himalayan catchments with limited observational data.</p>
</abstract>
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