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Variations in glacier volume and snow cover and their impact on lake storage in the Paiku Co Basin, in the Central Himalayas
Author(s) -
Zhang Xingxing,
Wang Rui,
Yao Zhijun,
Liu Zhaofei
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.13703
Subject(s) - glacier , snow , meltwater , plateau (mathematics) , environmental science , structural basin , accumulation zone , physical geography , elevation (ballistics) , hydrology (agriculture) , climate change , glacier mass balance , lapse rate , snow line , climatology , cryosphere , geology , arid , snow cover , geomorphology , ice stream , oceanography , geography , sea ice , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , paleontology
Glaciers and snow cover are important constituents of the surface of the Tibetan Plateau. The responses of these phenomena to global environmental changes are sensitive, rapid and intensive due to the high altitudes and arid cold climate of the Tibetan Plateau. Based on multisource remote sensing data, including Landsat images, MOD10A2 snow product, ICESat, Cryosat‐2 altimetry data and long‐term ground climate observations, we analysed the dynamic changes of glaciers, snow melting and lake in the Paiku Co basin using extraction methods for glaciers and lake, the degree‐day model and the ice and lake volume method. The interaction among the climate, ice‐snow and the hydrological elements in Paiku Co is revealed. From 2000 to 2018, the basin tended to be drier, and rainfall decreased at a rate of −3.07 mm/a. The seasonal temperature difference in the basin increased, the maximum temperature increased at a rate of 0.02°C/a and the minimum temperature decreased at a rate of −0.06°C/a, which accelerated the melting from glaciers and snow at rates of 0.55 × 10 7 m 3 /a and 0.29 × 10 7 m 3 /a, respectively. The rate of contribution to the lake from rainfall, snow and glacier melted water was 55.6, 27.7 and 16.7%, respectively. In the past 18 years, the warmer and drier climate has caused the lake to shrink. The water level of the lake continued to decline at a rate of −0.02 m/a, and the lake water volume decreased by 4.85 × 10 8 m 3 at a rate of −0.27 × 10 8 m 3 /a from 2000 to 2018. This evaluation is important for understanding how the snow and ice melting in the central Himalayas affect the regional water cycle.