Combined ICESat and CryoSat-2 Altimetry for Accessing Water Level Dynamics of Tibetan Lakes over 2003–2014

Water

Chunqiao Song¹  Qinghua Ye¹  Yongwei Sheng³  Tongliang Gong² 

[1] Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 18 Shuangquing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China;Hydrological Bureau in the Tibet Autonomous Region, 78 Sela Road, Lhasa 850000, China; E-Mail:;Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: lake;    CryoSat-2;    ICESat;    water balance;    Tibetan Plateau;    climate change;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w7094685

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Long-term observations of lake water level are essential to our understanding of the evolution of Tibetan lake system. CryoSat-2 radar altimetry data over the Tibetan Plateau (2010–2014, P₂) is used to extend lake level measurements from ICESat laser altimetry (2003–2009, P₁). This study evaluates the performance of CryoSat-2 data by comparing with gauge-based water levels that are calibrated by ICESat-observed water level time series, and quantifies the uncertainty of water-level change rate estimates from satellite altimetry measurements. We completely investigate the 131 lakes that were observed by both ICESat and CryoSat-2. The mean change rate of water level for all of examined lakes in P₂ (0.19 ± 0.03 m·year^–1) is slightly lower than that (0.21 ± 0.02 m·year^–1) observed in P₁. The extended lake level time series also indicates that, in the past few years, lakes in the Northern Changtang (especially in Hol Xil) showed accelerated growth; and that the extensive lake level rises north to the Gangdise Mountains, during 2003–2009, were found dampened during the CryoSat-2 observation period. The spatio-temporal heterogeneity of precipitation observed from weather stations can be used to partly explain the observed temporal pattern of lake level changes over different sub-zones of the plateau.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.