Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and in situ measurements under climate change

Zhang, Guoqing; Xie, Hongjie; Duan, Shuiqiang; Tian, Mingzhong; Yi, Donghui

doi:doi:10.1117/1.3601363

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Journal of Applied Remote Sensing / Volume 5 / Research Papers

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Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and in situ measurements under climate change

J. Appl. Remote Sens. 5, 053532 (Jun 28, 2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3601363

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Abstract

References (43)

Guoqing Zhang and Mingzhong Tian

China University of Geosciences-Beijing, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, Beijing 100083, China

Hongjie Xie

University of Texas at San Antonio, Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, San Antonio, Texas 78249 Hongjie.Xie@utsa.edu

East China Institute of Technology, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Nuclear Resources and Environment, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330013, China

Shuiqiang Duan

Bureau of Hydrology and Water Resources of Qinghai Province, Xining, Qinghai, 810001, China

Donghui Yi

SGT Inc., Cryospheric Sciences Branch, Code 614.1, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

Lake level elevation and variation are important indicators of regional and global climate and environmental change. Lake Qinghai, the largest saline lake in China, located in the joint area of the East Asian monsoon, Indian summer monsoon, and Westerly jet stream, is particularly sensitive to climate change. This study examines the lake's water level and temporal change using the ice, cloud, and land elevation satellite (ICESat) altimetry data and gauge measurements. Results show that the mean water level from ICESat rose 0.67 m from 2003 to 2009 with an increase rate of 0.11 m/yr and that the ICESat data correlates well (r² = 0.90, root mean square difference 0.08 m) with gauge measurements. Envisat altimetry data show a similar change rate of 0.10 m/yr, but with ∼0.52 m higher, primarily due to different referencing systems. Detailed examination of three sets of crossover ICESat tracks reveals that the lake level increase from 2004 to 2006 was 3 times that from 2006 to 2008, with the largest water level increase of 0.58 m from Feb. 2005 to Feb. 2006. Combined analyses with in situ precipitation, evaporation, and runoff measurements from 1956 to 2009 show that an overall decreasing trend of lake level (−0.07 m/yr) correlated with an overall increasing trend (+0.03°C/yr) of temperature, with three major interannual peaks of lake level increases. The longest period of lake level increase from 2004 to 2009 could partly be due to accelerated glacier/perennial snow cover melt in the region during recent decades. Future missions of ICESat type, with possible increased repeatability, would be an invaluable asset for continuously monitoring lake level and change worldwide, besides its primary applications to polar regions.

History

Received Nov 12, 2010
Accepted May 27, 2011
Revised May 24, 2011
Published online Jun 28, 2011

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3601363

Citation

Guoqing Zhang, Hongjie Xie, Shuiqiang Duan, Mingzhong Tian and Donghui Yi, "Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and in situ measurements under climate change", J. Appl. Remote Sens. 5, 053532 (Jun 28, 2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3601363