Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data
The monitoring of water storage variations is essential not only for the management of water resources, but also for a better understanding of the impact of climate change on hydrological cycle, particularly in Tibet. In this study, we estimated and analyzed changes of the total water budget on the...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:588b3f856ae244b288d595d4d4b16c0d 2023-05-15T17:58:13+02:00 Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data Fang Zou Robert Tenzer Shuanggen Jin 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091103 https://doaj.org/article/588b3f856ae244b288d595d4d4b16c0d EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/9/1103 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs11091103 https://doaj.org/article/588b3f856ae244b288d595d4d4b16c0d Remote Sensing, Vol 11, Iss 9, p 1103 (2019) water storage balance leakage effect lakes glacier melting Tibetan Plateau Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091103 2022-12-31T15:17:55Z The monitoring of water storage variations is essential not only for the management of water resources, but also for a better understanding of the impact of climate change on hydrological cycle, particularly in Tibet. In this study, we estimated and analyzed changes of the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission over 15 years prior to 2017. To suppress overall leakage effect of GRACE monthly solutions in Tibet, we applied a forward modeling technique to reconstruct hydrological signals from GRACE data. The results reveal a considerable decrease in the total water budget at an average annual rate of −6.22 ± 1.74 Gt during the period from August 2002 to December 2016. In addition to the secular trend, seasonal variations controlled mainly by annual changes in precipitation were detected, with maxima in September and minima in December. A rising temperature on the plateau is likely a principal factor causing a continuous decline of the total water budget attributed to increase melting of mountain glaciers, permafrost, and snow cover. We also demonstrate that a substantial decrease in the total water budget due to melting of mountain glaciers was partially moderated by the increasing water storage of lakes. This is evident from results of ICESat data for selected major lakes and glaciers. The ICESat results confirm a substantial retreat of mountain glaciers and an increasing trend of major lakes. An increasing volume of lakes is mainly due to an inflow of the meltwater from glaciers and precipitation. Our estimates of the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau are affected by a hydrological signal from neighboring regions. Probably the most significant are aliasing signals due to ground water depletion in Northwest India and decreasing precipitation in the Eastern Himalayas. Nevertheless, an integral downtrend in the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau caused by melting of glaciers prevails over the investigated period. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Remote Sensing 11 9 1103 |
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topic |
water storage balance leakage effect lakes glacier melting Tibetan Plateau Science Q |
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water storage balance leakage effect lakes glacier melting Tibetan Plateau Science Q Fang Zou Robert Tenzer Shuanggen Jin Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
topic_facet |
water storage balance leakage effect lakes glacier melting Tibetan Plateau Science Q |
description |
The monitoring of water storage variations is essential not only for the management of water resources, but also for a better understanding of the impact of climate change on hydrological cycle, particularly in Tibet. In this study, we estimated and analyzed changes of the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission over 15 years prior to 2017. To suppress overall leakage effect of GRACE monthly solutions in Tibet, we applied a forward modeling technique to reconstruct hydrological signals from GRACE data. The results reveal a considerable decrease in the total water budget at an average annual rate of −6.22 ± 1.74 Gt during the period from August 2002 to December 2016. In addition to the secular trend, seasonal variations controlled mainly by annual changes in precipitation were detected, with maxima in September and minima in December. A rising temperature on the plateau is likely a principal factor causing a continuous decline of the total water budget attributed to increase melting of mountain glaciers, permafrost, and snow cover. We also demonstrate that a substantial decrease in the total water budget due to melting of mountain glaciers was partially moderated by the increasing water storage of lakes. This is evident from results of ICESat data for selected major lakes and glaciers. The ICESat results confirm a substantial retreat of mountain glaciers and an increasing trend of major lakes. An increasing volume of lakes is mainly due to an inflow of the meltwater from glaciers and precipitation. Our estimates of the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau are affected by a hydrological signal from neighboring regions. Probably the most significant are aliasing signals due to ground water depletion in Northwest India and decreasing precipitation in the Eastern Himalayas. Nevertheless, an integral downtrend in the total water budget on the Tibetan Plateau caused by melting of glaciers prevails over the investigated period. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fang Zou Robert Tenzer Shuanggen Jin |
author_facet |
Fang Zou Robert Tenzer Shuanggen Jin |
author_sort |
Fang Zou |
title |
Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
title_short |
Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
title_full |
Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
title_fullStr |
Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water Storage Variations in Tibet from GRACE, ICESat, and Hydrological Data |
title_sort |
water storage variations in tibet from grace, icesat, and hydrological data |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091103 https://doaj.org/article/588b3f856ae244b288d595d4d4b16c0d |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 11, Iss 9, p 1103 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/9/1103 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs11091103 https://doaj.org/article/588b3f856ae244b288d595d4d4b16c0d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091103 |
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Remote Sensing |
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11 |
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9 |
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1103 |
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