Population Exposure Analysis
Hazard alone does not determine impact — a high-risk lake above an uninhabited valley poses far less threat than a moderate-risk lake above a densely settled floodplain. This page estimates the population and buildings within each lake's downstream flood corridor, combining WorldPop Nepal 2020 (100 m resolution) with OpenStreetMap building footprints.
The population and building counts here are real, but they are summed over flood corridors derived from the simulated lake inventory — 8 corridors digitised from valley topography and 17 straight ±2 km centroid paths. The totals are real people counted inside illustrative corridors, not a flood model.
All lakes — population exposure ranking
| Rank | Lake | Population at risk | Buildings at risk | Corridor area (km²) | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gosainkunda | 8,105 | 3,928 | 92.5 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 2 | Lower Barun | 7,883 | 2,999 | 200.3 | 🟢 real |
| 3 | Dolpo Lake 1 | 3,703 | 1,836 | 92.3 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 4 | Dolpo Lake 2 | 3,308 | 1,398 | 92.3 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 5 | Annapurna Lake 1 | 2,261 | 1,206 | 92.4 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 6 | Annapurna Lake 2 | 1,361 | 277 | 92.4 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 7 | Phoksundo Lake | 1,090 | 77 | 92.3 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 8 | Thulagi | 905 | 0 | 113.0 | 🟢 real |
| 9 | Sabai Tsho | 507 | 1,719 | 97.3 | 🟢 real |
| 10 | Mera Lake | 471 | 1,450 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 11 | Lumding Tsho | 435 | 36 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 12 | Imja Tsho | 334 | 3 | 149.8 | 🟢 real |
| 13 | Langtang Lake 1 | 268 | 192 | 92.5 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 14 | Langtang Lake 2 | 267 | 8 | 92.5 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 15 | Tsho Rolpa | 262 | 53 | 130.6 | 🟢 real |
| 16 | Ngozumpa Tsho | 226 | 447 | 187.2 | 🟢 real |
| 17 | Chamlang South | 214 | 0 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 18 | Kanchenjunga Lake 2 | 186 | 54 | 92.8 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 19 | Tilicho Lake | 180 | 2 | 150.8 | 🟢 real |
| 20 | Chamlang North | 150 | 0 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 21 | Kanchenjunga Lake 1 | 141 | 58 | 82.3 | 🟢 real |
| 22 | Dig Tsho | 91 | 51 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 23 | Ama Dablam Lake | 78 | 13 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 24 | Spillway Lake | 61 | 4 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
| 25 | Hongu 2 | 57 | 3 | 92.6 | ⚪ synthetic |
Population: WorldPop Nepal 2020 (100 m resolution, © WorldPop). Buildings: OpenStreetMap contributors. Corridors marked synthetic use buffered centroid paths — treat as indicative only.