Spatial-temporal Variation of Snow Cover in Qinghai Lake Basin in Recent 20 Years and the Possible Influence of Lake Effect

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  • 1. College of Petrochemical EngineeringLanzhou University of TechnologyLanzhou 730050GansuChina
    2. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil EngineeringNorthwest Institute of Eco-Environment
    and Resources
    Chinese Academy of SciencesLanzhou 730000China
    3. Qinghai Lake Comprehensive Observation and Research StationChinese Academy of Sciences
    Gangcha 812300QinghaiChina

Online published: 2025-05-20

Abstract

Snow cover is an important component of the cryosphere. In recent yearsclimate warming has led to a reduction in snow cover area. This change may cause uneven distribution of water resources and a decline in biodiversitythereby affecting local lifeeconomic development and ecological environment. Qinghai Lake is the largest inland lake in China. In recent yearsits water level has changed rapidly. The runoff into the lake is affected by the snow cover and its changes in the basin. Howeverthe characteristicschanges and causes of the in‐ fluence of the snow cover in the Qinghai Lake Basin are still unclear. Based on the temperature and precipitation data from the Moderate-resolution Imaging SpectroradiometerMODISdaily cloudless 500 m snow area product Dataset and the China Meteorological Forcing DatasetCMFD),This paper studies the spatial and temporal variation characteristics and influencing causes of snow cover in the Qinghai Lake Basin. The results show that: (1There is a good correspondence between the distribution of the average annual snow cover frequency from 2000 to 2020 and the altitude. As the altitude decreasesthe snow cover frequency also decreases accordingly. It is simultaneously affected by the average annual temperature and the annual precipitation. Among themthe areas significantly affected by the average annual temperature in a partial correlation are mainly distributed in the northern and eastern parts of Qinghai Lakeand the areas significantly affected by the annual precipitation in a partial correlation are mainly distributed in the middle and upper reaches of the Buha River in the middle of the Qinghai Lake Basin.2From 2001 to 2017precipitation increased in the Qinghai Lake Basin and the Qilian Mountains region. Howeverdue to the increase in the average annual temperature and the decrease in the annual snowfall in the two regionsthe snow cover area decreased.3The intra-annual variations of snow cover area in the Qinghai Lake Basin and the Qilian Mountains region are relatively similarboth showing a double-peak fluctuation feature. Howeverthe reduction in snow cover area from April to July and the increase from August to January of the following year in the Qinghai Lake Basin are both greater than those in the Qilian Mountains region. From January to Marchthe snow cover in the Qilian Mountains region decreasedwhile that in the Qinghai Lake Basin increasedwhich corresponds well to the lake effect after the melting of Qinghai Lake.

Cite this article

XIE Gang, LI Lin, WEN Lijuan, CHEN Shiqiang, WANG Mengxiao . Spatial-temporal Variation of Snow Cover in Qinghai Lake Basin in Recent 20 Years and the Possible Influence of Lake Effect[J]. Plateau Meteorology, 0 : 1 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2025.00064

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