Recent glacier and lake elevation changes in the western Kunlun Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) revealed by CryoSat-2 satellite altimetry data

Abstract

Mountain glaciers and alpine lakes are significant indicators of regional climate change. The temperature rise has resulted in the retreat of glaciers, further influencing the ecological cycle and the water balance. The present work mainly focuses on recent glacier and lake elevation changes in the western Kunlun Mountains. The CryoSat-2 satellite altimetry with relatively dense ground track spacing can measure more elevation samples for small glaciers and lakes surrounded by complex topography. The CryoSat-2 data with various algorithms were employed to monitor the water levels of the three typical lakes and the surface elevation changes of their supplying glaciers. The glacier surface elevations showed a slightly increasing trend and remarkable spatial heterogeneity from 2010 to 2021. Meanwhile, the Bangda Lake and Aksayqin Lake displayed clear and strong increasing trends over the observation period with an annual change rate of +0.65 and +0.20 m / yr, respectively. Surprisingly, Gozha Lake exhibited a decreasing trend with the rate of −0.04 m / yr. Regional climate warming led to more melt-water from the glaciers and permafrost flowing into the three typical lakes. The increase in precipitation played a leading role in lake expansion over the western Kunlun Mountains. The present work demonstrated that the satellite altimetry data provide important supplementary data to help us perform the cryosphere research in the data-scarce northern Tibetan Plateau depopulated zone.