Abstract
Lakes are sensitive indicators of climate change in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which have shown high temporal and spatial variability in recent decades. The driving forces for the change are still not entirely clear. This study examined the area change of the lakes greater than 1 km2 in the endorheic basins of the Tibetan Plateau (EBTP) using Landsat images from 1990 to 2019, and analysed the relationships between lake area and local and large-scale climate variables at different geographic scales. The results show that lake area in the EBTP has increased significantly from 1990 to 2019 at a rate of 432.52 km2·year−1. In the past 30 years, lake area changes in the EBTP have mainly been affected by local climate variables such as precipitation and temperature. At a large scale, Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) has correlations with lake area in western sub-regions in the Inner Basin (IB). While Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) has a significant connection with lake area, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) does not. We also found that abnormal drought (rainfall) brought by the El Niño/La Niña events are significantly correlated with the lake area change in most sub-regions in the IB.
Highlights
The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is known as the “third pole” of the earth
Using Landsat imagery and cloud-based geospatial analysis platform Google Earth Engine (GEE), this study identified and calculated annual area for all the lakes greater than 1 km2 in the BETP from 1990 to 2019
The study examined the relationships between lake area and local, regional (EASM and Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM)) and global
Summary
It is the water tower of Asia [1,2] and is of great significance to regional- and large-scale climate systems due to its large extent and high altitude [3]. Climate in the TP showed a significant increase in temperature and precipitation in most regions over the past decades, especially in the eastern and central parts [4,5]. Lake area change in the region reflects the influence of local climate variables (temperature, precipitation, etc.) and large-scale climate factors (regional monsoon systems, global atmosphere and ocean circulation, etc.), which are of great interest and significance for understanding the hydrological processes in the TP [11,12]. The TP has experienced significant climate change, characterized by unprecedented warming [13], weakening
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