Based on Landsat data (kh-9 data in 1976 as auxiliary data), glacial lake data of nearly 40 years (1970s-2018) in the western Nyainqentanglha range were obtained by manual digitization and visual interpretation. The variation characteristics of glacial lake over 0.0036 square kilometers in terms of type, size, elevation and watershed were analyzed in detail. The results show that, between 1976 and 2018, the number of glacial lakes increased by 56% from 192 to 299 and their total area increased by 35% from 6.75 ± 0.13 square kilometers to 9.12 ± 0.13 square kilometers ; the type of glacial lake is changing obviously; the smaller glacial lake is changing faster; the expansion of glacial lake is developing to higher altitude.
LUO Wei, ZHANG Guoqing
Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are an indicator and sentinel of climatic changes. We extended lake area changes on the TP from 2010 to 2021, and provided a long and dense lake observations between the 1970s and 2021. We found that the number of lakes, with area larger than 1 k㎡ , has increased to ~1400 in 2021 from ~1000 in the 1970s. The total area of these lakes decreased between the 1970s and ~1995, and then showed a robust increase, with the exception of a slight decrease in 2015. This expansion of the lakes on the highest plateau in the world is a response to a hydrological cycle intensified by recent climate changes.
ZHANG Guoqing
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