Near-surface air temperature variability and the reliability of temperature extrapolation within glacierized regions are important issues for hydrological and glaciological studies that remain elusive because of the scarcity of high-elevation observations. Based on air temperature data in 2019 collected from 12 automatic weather stations, 43 temperature loggers and 6 national meteorological stations in six different catchments, this study presents air temperature variability in different glacierized/nonglacierized regions and assesses the robustness of different temperature extrapolations to reduce errors in melt estimation. The results show high spatial variability in temperature lapse rates (LRs) in different climatic contexts, with the steepest LRs located on the cold-dry northwestern Tibetan Plateau and the lowest LRs located on the warm-humid monsoonal-influenced southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Near-surface air temperatures in high-elevation glacierized regions of the western and central Tibetan Plateau are less influenced by katabatic winds and thus can be linearly extrapolated from off-glacier records. In contrast, the local katabatic winds prevailing on the temperate glaciers of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau exert pronounced cooling effects on the ambient air temperature, and thus, on-glacier air temperatures are significantly lower than that in elevation-equivalent nonglacierized regions. Consequently, linear temperature extrapolation from low-elevation nonglacierized stations may lead to as much as 40% overestimation of positive degree days, particularly with respect to large glaciers with a long flowline distances and significant cooling effects. These findings provide noteworthy evidence that the different LRs and relevant cooling effects on high-elevation glaciers under distinct climatic regimes should be carefully accounted for when estimating glacier melting on the Tibetan Plateau.
YANG Wei
The past frozen soil map of the Tibetan Plateau was based on a small number of temperature station observations and used a classification system based on continuity. This data set used the geographically weighted regression model (GWR) to synthesize MODIS surface temperature, leaf area index, snow cover ratio and multimodel soil moisture forecast products of the National Meteorological Information Center through spatiotemporal reconstruction. In addition, precipitation observations of more than 40 meteorological stations, the precipitation products of FY2 satellite observations and the multiyear average temperature observation data of 152 meteorological stations from 2000 to 2010 were integrated to simulate the average temperature data of the Tibetan Plateau, and the permafrost thermal condition classification system was used to classify permafrost into several types: Very cold, Cold, Cool, Warm, Very warm, and Likely thawing. The map shows that, after deducting lakes and glaciers, the total area of permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau is approximately 1,071,900 square kilometers. Verification shows that this map has higher accuracy. It can provide support for future planning and design of frozen soil projects and environmental management.
RAN Youhua, LI Xin
The data are a digitized permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (1:600,000) (Boliang Tong, et al. 1983), which was compiled by Boliang Tong, shude Li, Jueying bu, and Guoqing Qiu from the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (originally called the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) in 1981. The map aims to reflect the basic laws of permafrost distribution along the highway and its relationship with the main natural environmental factors. The basic data for the compilation of the map include hydrogeological and engineering geological survey results and maps along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway(1:200000) (First Hydrogeological Engineering Geological Brigade of Qinghai Province, Institute of Geomechanics of the Academy of Geological Science), the cryopedological research results of the Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedology of Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1960 in nine locations along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (West Datan, Kunlun pass basin, Qingshuihe, Fenghuohe, Tuotuohe, the Sangma Basin, Buquhe, Tumengela, and Liangdaohe) and drilling data of the Golmud-Lhasa oil pipeline and aerial topographic data of the work area. Taking the 1:200000 topographic map as the working base map, a permafrost map was compiled, which was then downscaled to a 1:600000 map to ensure the accuracy of the map. To make up for the lack of data in a larger area along the line, the characteristics and principles of the frozen soils found in the nine frozen soil research points along the highway were applied to areas with the same geologic and geographical conditions; meanwhile, aerial photographs were used as supplements to the freeze-thaw geology and frozen soil characteristics. The permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (1:600,000) includes the annual average temperature contour map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (1:7,200,000) and the permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (1:600,000). The permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway also contains information on permafrost types, lithology, frozen soil phenomena, types of through-melting zones, classification of frozen soil engineering, and geological structural fractures. These data contain only digitized permafrost information. The spatial coverage is from Daxitan on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway in the north to Sangxiong in the south and is nearly 800 kilometers long and 40-50 kilometers wide. The data set includes a vectorized and a scanned map of the permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. The attribute information of the map is as follows. A-1; Continuous permafrost; >0°C; remained as a frozen soil layer and isolation layer A-2; Continuous permafrost; 0~-0.5°C; 0-25 m A-3; Continuous permafrost; -0.5~-1.5°C; 25-60 m A-4; Continuous permafrost; -1.5~-3.5°C; 60-120 m A-5;Continuous permafrost;<-3.5°C;>120 m B-1; Island permafrost ground; Seasonal Frozen Ground; B-2; Continuous permafrost; >0°C; remained as a frozen soil layer and isolation layer B-3; Island permafrost extent; 0~-0.5°C; 0-25 m B-4; Island permafrost extent; -0.5~-1.5°C; 25-60 m B-5; Island permafrost extent; -1.5~-3.5°C; 60-120 m
TONG Boliang, LI Shude, BO Jueying, QIU Guoqing
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