ICESat/GLAS-derived changes in the water level of Hulun Lake, Inner Mongolia, from 2003 to 2009

doi:10.1007/s11707-017-0666-8

Front. Earth Sci.

2018, Vol. 12

Issue (2) : 420-430 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-017-0666-8

RESEARCH ARTICLE

ICESat/GLAS-derived changes in the water level of Hulun Lake, Inner Mongolia, from 2003 to 2009

Chunlan LI^1,², Jun WANG^1,²(

), Richa HU³, Shan YIN^3,⁴, Yuhai BAO⁴, Yuwei LI³

¹. Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
². School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
³. College of Geographical Sciences, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Huhhot 010022, China
⁴. Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Huhhot 010022, China

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Abstract

Hulun Lake is the largest freshwater lake in northern Inner Mongolia and even minor changes in its level may have major effects on the ecology of the lake and the surrounding area. In this study, we used high-precision elevation data for the interval from 2003–2009 measured by the Geoscience Laser Altimetry System (GLAS) on board the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) to assess annual and seasonal water level variations of Hulun Lake. The altimetry data of 32 satellite tracks were processed using the RANdom SAmple Consensus algorithm (RANSAC) to eliminate elevation outliers, and subsequently the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) was used to delineate the area of the lake. From 2003–2009, the shoreline of Hulun Lake retreated westwards, which was especially notable in the southern part of the lake. There was only a small decrease in water level, from 530.72 m to 529.22 m during 2003–2009, an average rate of 0.08 m/yr. The area of the lake decreased at a rate of 49.52 km²/yr, which was mainly the result of the shallow bathymetry in the southern part of the basin. The decrease in area was initially rapid, then much slower, and finally rapid again. Generally, the lake extent and water level decreased due to higher temperatures, intense evaporation, low precipitation, and decreasing runoff. And their fluctuations were caused by a decrease in intra-annual temperature, evaporation, and a slight increase in precipitation. Overall, a combination of factors related to climate change were responsible for the variations of the water level of Hulun Lake during the study interval. The results improve our understanding of the impact of climate change on Hulun Lake and may facilitate the formulation of response strategies.

Keywords ICESat/GLAS altimetry water level Hulun Lake arid area climate change

Corresponding Author(s): Jun WANG

Just Accepted Date: 21 June 2017 Online First Date: 28 July 2017 Issue Date: 09 May 2018

Cite this article:

Chunlan LI,Jun WANG,Richa HU, et al. ICESat/GLAS-derived changes in the water level of Hulun Lake, Inner Mongolia, from 2003 to 2009[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2018, 12(2): 420-430.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-017-0666-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2018/V12/I2/420

Fig.1 Hulun Lake in Inner Mongolia, with ICESat satellite tracks superimposed on the map.

Tab.1 Landsat images used in this study

Tab.2 Meteorological stations used in this study

Fig.2 Data processing flow chart.

Tab.3 Accuracy assessment of the water body extraction method

Fig.3 Changes in the coastline of Hulun Lake from 2003 to 2009.

Fig.4 Changes in the area of Hulun Lake from 2003?2009.

Fig.5 Water level changes of Hulun Lake from 2003 to 2009.

Fig.6 RANSAC test for ICESat/GLAS data.

Fig.7 Temperature change in the vicinity of Hulun Lake.

Fig.8 Precipitation in the vicinity of Hulun Lake from 2003 to 2009.

Fig.9 Cumulative and annual evaporation for the Hulun Lake area from 2003 to 2009.

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