scholarly journals Understanding the effects of climate warming on streamflow and active groundwater storage in an alpine catchment: the upper Lhasa River

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 1145-1157
Author(s):  
Lu Lin ◽  
Man Gao ◽  
Jintao Liu ◽  
Jiarong Wang ◽  
Shuhong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Gray Relational Analysis ◽  
Permafrost Degradation ◽  
Groundwater Storage ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Grace Data ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River

Abstract. Climate warming is changing streamflow regimes and groundwater storage in cold alpine regions. In this study, the Yangbajain headwater catchment in the Lhasa River basin is adopted as the study area to assess streamflow changes and active groundwater storage in response to climate warming. The results show that both annual streamflow and the mean air temperature increase significantly at respective rates of about 12.30 mm per decade and 0.28 ∘C per decade from 1979 to 2013 in the study area. The results of gray relational analysis indicate that the air temperature acts as a primary factor for the increased streamflow. Due to climate warming, the total glacier volume has retreated by over 25 % during the past 50 years, and the areal extent of permafrost has degraded by 15.3 % over the last 20 years. Parallel comparisons with other subbasins in the Lhasa River basin indirectly reveal that the increased streamflow at the Yangbajain Station is mainly fed by the accelerated glacier retreat. Using baseflow recession analysis, we also find that the estimated groundwater storage that is comparable with the GRACE data increases significantly at rates of about 19.32 mm per decade during the abovementioned period. That is to say, as permafrost thaws, more spaces have been made available to accommodate the increasing meltwater. Finally, a large water imbalance (of more than 5.79×107 m3 a−1) between the melt-derived runoff and the actual increase in runoff as well as the groundwater storage is also observed. The results from this study suggest that the impacts of glacial retreat and permafrost degradation show compound behaviors on the storage–discharge mechanism due to climate warming, and that this fundamentally affects the water supply and the mechanisms of streamflow generation and change.

scholarly journals Quantifying streamflow and active groundwater storage in response to climate warming in an alpine catchment, upper Lhasa River

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Lin ◽  
Man Gao ◽  
Jintao Liu ◽  
Jiarong Wang ◽  
Shuhong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Groundwater Storage ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Grace Data ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Climate warming is changing streamflow regimes and groundwater storage in cold alpine regions. In this study, a headwater catchment named Yangbajain in the Lhasa River Basin is adopted as the study area for quantifying streamflow changes and active groundwater storage in response to climate warming. The changes in streamflow regimes and climate factors are evaluated based on hydro-meteorological observations from 1979 to 2013. The results show that annual streamflow increases significantly at a rate of about 12.30 mm/10a during this period. Through baseflow recession analysis, we also find that the estimated groundwater storage that is comparable with the GRACE data increases significantly at the rates of about 19.32 mm/10a during these years. The rising of air temperature is the main factor for the increase in streamflow and groundwater storage, which has led to a loss of over 25 % of the total glacier volume for half century in this catchment. Parallel comparisons with other sub-basins in the Lhasa River Basin reveal that the increased streamflow at the Yangbajain station is mainly fed by the accelerated glacier retreat rather than frozen ground degradation. However, the increase of active storage capacity is caused by frozen ground degradation, which can accommodate the increasing meltwater in the valley. The huge gap between the melt-derived runoff and the increased water volume in groundwater storage and streamflow suggests that more than 60 % of the total ablation of glaciers should be discharged downstream through deep fault. This study provides a perspective to clarify the impact of glacial retreat and frozen ground degradation on hydrological processes, which fundamentally affects the water supply and the mechanisms of streamflow generation and change.

Alpine wetlands in the Lhasa River Basin, China

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yili Zhang ◽  
Chunlian Wang ◽  
Wanqi Bai ◽  
Zhaofeng Wang ◽  
Yanli Tu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River

Hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of surface water in the Lhasa River basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiutan Liu ◽  
Zongjun Gao ◽  
Min Wang ◽  
Yingzhi Li ◽  
Chen Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River

Ion chemistry of groundwater and the possible controls within Lhasa River Basin, SW Tibetan Plateau

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhang ◽  
Wutian Cai ◽  
Yingzhi Li ◽  
Tingting Geng ◽  
Zhiyin Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Ion Chemistry ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River

scholarly journals Identification of the Roles of Climate Factors, Engineering Construction, and Agricultural Practices in Vegetation Dynamics in the Lhasa River Basin, Tibetan Plateau

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Hongying Luo ◽  
Tiesong Hu ◽  
Dongguo Shao ◽  
Yuanlai Cui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Adverse Impact ◽  
Favorable Effect ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Reservoir Construction ◽  
Lhasa River

Understanding vegetation dynamics is necessary to address potential ecological threats and develop sustainable ecosystem management at high altitudes. In this study, we revealed the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation growth in the Lhasa River Basin using net primary productivity (NPP) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the period of 2000–2005. The roles of climatic factors and specific anthropogenic activities in vegetation dynamics were also identified, including positive or negative effects and the degree of impact. The results indicated that the interannual series of NPP and NDVI in the whole basin both had a continuous increasing trend from 102 to 128 gC m−2 yr−1 and from 0.417 to 0.489 (p < 0.05), respectively. The strongest advanced trends (>2 gC m−2 yr−1 or >0.005 yr−1) were detected in mainly the southeastern and northeastern regions. Vegetation dynamics were not detected in 10% of the basin. Only 20% of vegetation dynamics were driven by climatic conditions, and precipitation was the controlling climatic factor determining vegetation growth. Accordingly, anthropogenic activities made a great difference in vegetation coverage, accounting for about 70%. The construction of urbanization and reservoir led to vegetation degradation, but the farmland practices contributed the vegetation growth. Reservoir construction had an adverse impact on vegetation within 6 km of the river, and the direct damage to vegetation was within 1 km. The impacts of urbanization were more serious than that of reservoir construction. Urban sprawl had an adverse impact on vegetation within a 6 km distance from the surrounding river and resulted in the degradation of vegetation, especially within a 3 km range. Intensive fertilization and guaranteed irrigation improved the cropland ecosystem conditions, creating a favorable effect on the accumulation of crop organic matter in a range of 5 km, with an NPP trend value of 1.2 gC m−2 yr−1. The highly intensive grazing activity forced ecological environmental pressures such that the correlation between livestock numbers and vegetation growth trend was significantly linear negative.

scholarly journals Study on Integrated Planning and Management in Lhasa River Basin

2020 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 03055
Author(s):  
Su Huidong ◽  
Liu Yin ◽  
Lu Huiting ◽  
Wang Dongbo ◽  
Jin Tianian
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Integrated Planning ◽  
Comprehensive Planning ◽  
Planning And Management ◽  
Tibet Autonomous Region ◽  
Lhasa River Basin ◽  
Lhasa River ◽  
Political Economic

As a political, economic and cultural center of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Lhasa River needs to take planning and management of the basin. In the past 60 years, the temperature of Lhasa River Basin has been increasing gradually at an annual rate of 0.047 ° C, which leads to the water cycle variation of the river basin and its associated aquatic ecology and environment continue to change and evolve, and ecological environmental protection is affected by more uncertain factors. Based on the assessment of the ecological environment of the Lhasa River Basin, the comprehensive planning suggestions for the Lhasa River Basin were proposed from the aspects of water environment, land use, ecological pattern, and economic and social development. These suggestions are drawn on the examples of integrated planning and management of catchment in foreign countries and are referred to as the comprehensive planning of the seven major river basins in China.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document