Submit to Remote Sensing Review for Remote Sensing Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 14996

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qinghua Ye

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: Glacier mass balance; glacial lakes; Tibetan Plateau; remote sensing

Dr. Yuzhe Wang

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Interests: glaciology; ice flow modelling; digital terain analyses

Dr. Lin Liu

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

Earth System Science Programme, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Interests: permafrost; glaciers; ice sheets; remote sensing; deep learning; geodesy and geophysics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit your latest research results to the Special Issue "Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology".

The Himalayan Mountain range is the third largest deposit of ice and snow in the world and serves as an important source of freshwater for the 1.3 billion people living in its vicinity. Knowledge about the timing and contribution of individual components of the hydrological cycle and water resource characteristics across the Himalayas is limited, partly due to inadequate investigations and a lack of synthesis of existing information.

This Special Issue will showcase successful recent endeavors in studies covering the applications of remote sensing data that lead to new insights and potential separations of coupling lithological, cryospheric, hydrologic, and climatic processes.

We encourage submissions of original research papers and review articles on topics related to the applications of remote sensing in Himalayan hydrology, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

Hydrological changes over catchments, basin-wise water balance, surface elevation changes on mountain glaciers, snow sublimation, changes in snow water equivalent, glacier mass balance change, river/runoff, lake water storage, precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture, groundwater, and water storage in frozen ground;
Monitoring glacier and glacial lake changes and possible risks of disasters in the Himalayas, including glacier collapse or surging, debris landslides, outburst of glacier lakes, etc.;
Remote sensing techniques for hydrological processes monitoring, including multi-platform techniques from space, such as multispectral methodologies, SAR or DinSAR techniques, laser altimetry, photogrammetry by drone, or investigations of ground-based observations, in measuring water-driven deformation, generation of high-accuracy DEM based on retrievals of water level change in lakes or runoff, active layer thickness, ground ice content, soil moisture, groundwater storage, etc.;
Terrestrial hydrology, continental hydrologic cycle, atmospheric circulation on the Tibetan Plateau catchment-scale or mountain-scale water resources and moisture transportation, etc.

Dr. Qinghua Ye
Dr. Yuzhe Wang
Dr. Lin Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Himalayan hydrology
Tibetan Plateau
mountain glacier
glacial lakes
remote sensing techniques

Published Papers (9 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 8623 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Slight Mass Loss in Glaciers over the Ulugh Muztagh Mountains during the Period from 2000 to 2020

by Lailei Gu, Yanjun Che, Mingjun Zhang, Lihua Chen, Yushan Zhou and Xinggang Ma

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(9), 2338; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15092338 - 28 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1231

Abstract

Knowledge about changes in the glacier mass balance and climate fluctuation in the East Kunlun Mountains is still incomplete and heterogeneous. To understand the changes in the glacier mass in the Ulugh Muztagh Mountains in the East Kunlun Mountains due to global warming, a time series of satellite stereo-images from the Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) were derived from 2000 to 2020. Digital elevation models (DEMs) of the glaciers were generated and used to assess the changes in these glacier masses from 2000 to 2020. The results show that the surface elevation of glaciers in the Ulugh Muztagh region changed by −0.17 ± 10.74 m from 2000 to 2020, corresponding to a mass change of −0.14 ± 9.13 m w.e. The glacier mass balance increased by 0.64 ± 9.22 m w.e. in 2000–2011 and then decreased by 0.78 ± 9.04 m w.e. in 2011–2020. The annual mass balance of the glaciers was −0.0072 ± 0.46 m w.e./yr from 2000 to 2020, showing glacial stability. The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of the glacier was 5514 m a.s.l. from 2000 to 2020. In addition, we also found that the glacier mass losses in the west and north slopes were more significant than those in the east and south slopes. There was a phenomenon of glacier surges in the Yulinchuan glacier from 2007 to 2011. Overall, the glaciers were relatively stable with respect to the total glacier thickness in the Ulugh Muztagh Mountains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 8810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recent 50-Year Glacier Mass Balance Changes over the Yellow River Source Region, Determined by Remote Sensing

by Min Zhou, Song Xu, Yetang Wang, Yuzhe Wang and Shugui Hou

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(24), 6286; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246286 - 12 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1286

Abstract

The A’nyêmaqên Mountains have the largest concentration of glaciers in the Yellow River basin, which play a crucial role in regulating the runoff regime of the Yellow River. Thus, the quantification of glacier mass balance and its effects on river runoff is greatly required. However, current studies mainly focus on mass changes since 2000. Here, we report for the first time region-wide glacier elevation and mass changes, which were derived from digital elevation models (DEMs) produced from historical topographic maps (TOPO), SRTM retrievals, and ASTER L1A stereo imagery spanning the past 50 years. The results indicated a negative mass balance (−0.24 ± 0.05 m w.e. a⁻¹) of all glaciers for the 1966–2018 timespan. The mass loss rapidly accelerated from −0.16 ± 0.09 m w.e. a⁻¹ in 1966–2000 to −0.36 ± 0.06 m w.e. a⁻¹ during the period from 2000–2018. The rise in mass loss rate from 2000 onwards was mainly associated with the rapidly increased summer warming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 8250 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dynamic Evolution Modeling of a Lake-Terminating Glacier in the Western Himalayas Using a Two-Dimensional Higher-Order Flowline Model

by Zhan Yan, Tong Zhang, Yuzhe Wang, Wei Leng, Minghu Ding, Dongqi Zhang and Cunde Xiao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(24), 6189; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246189 - 07 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1500

Abstract

To better understand the future evolution of Jiemayangzong Glacier (JMYZG), the headstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River, we simulated its future ice thickness evolution using a two-dimensional higher-order numerical flowline model. Due to the sparsity of in situ observational data, we used a combination of field observations and inversion models of velocity and ice thickness to initialize the model parameters. We validated the parametrizations of the calving scheme by comparing the modeled and observed glacier terminus retreats. To estimate the response of JMYZG to climate change, the ice flow model was forced with different climate scenarios. We found that the JMYZG will retreat under different climate scenarios. By 2100, the volume loss of JMYZG will be approximately 34%, 67% and 81% under SSP1-2.6, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 4243 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mass Balance Reconstruction for Laohugou Glacier No. 12 from 1980 to 2020, Western Qilian Mountains, China

by Jiake Wu, Weijun Sun, Baojuan Huai, Minghu Ding, Lei Wang, Yuzhe Wang, Junlong Zhang, Wentao Du, Jizu Chen and Xiang Qin

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(21), 5424; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215424 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1267

Abstract

A long-series mass balance (MB) of glaciers can be used to study glacier–climate relationships. Using a distributed simplified energy balance model (SEBM) and an enhanced temperature-index model (ETIM), the MB of Laohugou Glacier No. 12 (LHG12) was reconstructed from 1980 to 2020, driven by a calibrated ERA5 reanalysis dataset. The simulation of SEBM performs better than that of ETIM. The results showed that the annual MB of LGH12 is a fluctuating trend of declining from 1980 to 2020, with annual means of −0.39 ± 0.28 m w.e. a⁻¹ and cumulative value of −16 ± 4 m w.e. During 1980–1990, the annual MB fluctuated in a small range, while after 1990, LHG12 accelerated melting owing to rising air temperature, with annual means of −0.48 m w.e. a⁻¹, three times as large as that of 1980–1990. The largest mass loss occurred during 2001–2010 at an average rate of −0.57 m w.e. a⁻¹. The average equilibrium line altitude (ELA) was 4976 m a.s.l., and since 1980, the ELA has been increasing at a rate of 37.5 m/10 a. LHG12 is most sensitive to air temperature, and the MB sensitivity reaches −0.51 m w.e. a⁻¹ with air temperature increase of 1 °C. The sensitivity of MB to incoming shortwave radiation (+10%) simulated by SEBM is −0.30 m w.e. a⁻¹, three times larger than that simulated by ETIM. This is mainly because the two models have different conditions for controlling melting. Melting is controlled only by air temperature for ETIM, while for SEBM, it is controlled by air temperature and incoming shortwave radiation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 5082 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing a New Parameterization Scheme of Temperature Lapse Rate for the Hydrological Simulation in a Glacierized Basin Based on Remote Sensing

by Wanying Song, Handuo Tang, Xueyan Sun, Yuxuan Xiang, Xiaofei Ma and Hongbo Zhang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4973; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194973 - 06 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1242

Abstract

Temperature lapse rate (TLR) is an important parameter for simulations of snow/glacier melts in alpine watersheds. However, the traditional scheme estimates TLR mainly based on a limited number of stations and may not be suitable for alpine watersheds with scarce observations. To overcome this problem, this study developed a new basin-oriented TLR scheme based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature data which was applied in a typical glacierized watershed on the northern slope of the Himalayas. The new TLR scheme was evaluated by comparison with the station-based traditional TLR scheme in terms of performance in simulations of both snow cover area and runoff using the same hydrological model. The results showed that the monthly TLRs estimated by the new scheme presented a more reasonable seasonal pattern than those estimated by the traditional scheme. The model using the new TLR scheme showed better performance in discharge simulations of low-runoff months than that using the traditional TLR scheme. The R-squared value of multiyear mean monthly snow cover area of the former (0.82) was also higher than that of the latter (0.56). This study provides an efficient framework for estimating TLR based on remote sensing for alpine watersheds with scarce observations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 3664 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recent Seasonal Spatiotemporal Variations in Alpine Glacier Surface Elevation in the Pamir

by Weibing Du, Yanchao Zheng, Yangyang Li, Anming Bao, Junli Li, Dandan Ma, Xin Gao, Yaming Pan and Shuangting Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4923; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194923 - 01 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

Climate change can lead to seasonal surface elevation variations in alpine glaciers. This study first uses DEM (Digital Elevation Model) of Pamir glaciers to develop a denoising model for laser altimetry of ICESat-2 footprints, which reduces the standard deviation of the differences between ICESat-2 footprints and corresponding datum DEM from 13.9 to 3.6 m. Second, the study constructs a calibration processing model for solving the problem that laser footprints obtained at different times have inconsistent plane positions. We calculates plane position and elevation differences between the two laser footprints in the local area of 0.05 × 0.05° from 2018 to 2021. The elevations constructed by laser footprints shows a strong correlation with the datum elevation over the different periods, and effectively preserve the time-series variation information of glacier surface elevation (GSE). Based on these two models, the spatiotemporal variations of the surface elevation of the Pamir glaciers is established as a function of seasons. There are three main conclusions: (1) The GSE in the Pamir increased slightly from 2018 to 2021 at an average rate of +0.02 ± 0.01 m/year. The time series with elevation increase was located exactly on the glacial ablation zone, and the time series with elevation decrease occurred on the glacial accumulation zone. Both observations demonstrate the surge state of the glacier. (2) The Pamir eastern (Zone I) and northwestern (Zone III) regions had large glacier accumulation areas. GSE in these two regions has increased in recent years at yearly rates of +0.25 ± 0.13 and +0.06 ± 0.04 m/year, respectively. In contrast, the GSE of small glaciers in Zones II and IV has decreased at a yearly rate of −0.96 ± 0.37 and −0.24 ± 0.18 m/year, respectively. Climate was the primary factor influencing the increase in GSE in Zones I and III. The westerly circulation had been reinforced in recent years, and precipitation had increased dramatically at a rate of +0.99 mm/year in the northwestern section of the Pamir; this was the primary cause of the increase in GSE. (3) The increased precipitation and decreased temperature were both important factors causing an overall +0.02 ± 0.01 m/year variation of GSE in this region. The GSE in the four sub-regions showed different variation trends because of variations in temperature and precipitation. The external causes that affected the increase in GSE in the region included an average yearly temperature decrease at the rate of 0.54 ± 0.36 °C/year and a total yearly precipitation increase of 0.46 ± 0.29 mm/year in the study area from 2018 to 2021. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

26 pages, 9739 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Long-Time Series Variation of Glacial Lakes in Southwestern Tibet: A Case Study in the Nyalam County

by Ge Qu, Xiaoai Dai, Junying Cheng, Weile Li, Meilian Wang, Wenxin Liu, Zhichong Yang, Yunfeng Shan, Jiashun Ren, Heng Lu, Youlin Wang, Binyang Zeng and Murat Atasoy

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4688; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194688 - 20 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1733

Abstract

Glacial lakes are important freshwater resources in southern Tibet. However, glacial lake outburst floods have significantly jeopardized the safety of local residents. To better understand the changes in glacial lakes in response to climate change, it is necessary to conduct a long-term evaluation on the areal dynamics of glacial lakes, assisted with local observations. Here, we propose an innovative method of classification and stacking extraction to accurately delineate glacial lakes in southwestern Tibet from 1990 to 2020. Based on Landsat images and meteorological data, we used geographic detectors to detect correlation factors. Multiple regression models were used to analyze the driving factors of the changes in glacier lake area. We combined bathymetric data of the glacial lakes with the changes in climatic variables and utilized HEC-RAS to determine critical circumstances for glacial lake outbursts. The results show that the area of glacial lakes in Nyalam County increased from 27.95 km² in 1990 to 52.85 km² in 2020, and eight more glacial lakes were observed in the study area. The glacial lake area expanded by 89.09%, where we found significant growth from 2015 to 2020. The correlation analysis between the glacial lake area and climate change throughout the period shows that temperature and precipitation dominate the expansion of these lakes from 1990 to 2020. We also discover that the progressive increase in water volume of glacial lakes can be attributed to the constant rise in temperature and freeze–thaw of surrounding glaciers. Finally, the critical conditions for the glacial lake’s outburst were predicted by using HEC-RAS combined with the changes in the water volume and climatic factors. It is concluded that GangxiCo endures a maximum water flow of 4.3 × 10⁸ m³, and the glacial lake is in a stable changing stage. This conclusion is consistent with the field investigation and can inform the prediction of glacial lake outbursts in southwestern Tibet in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

19 pages, 14591 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Large-Scale Monitoring of Glacier Surges by Integrating High-Temporal- and -Spatial-Resolution Satellite Observations: A Case Study in the Karakoram

by Linghong Ke, Jinshan Zhang, Chenyu Fan, Jingjing Zhou and Chunqiao Song

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(18), 4668; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14184668 - 19 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1900

Abstract

Glacier surges have been increasingly reported from the mountain and high-latitude cryosphere. They represent active glaciological processes that affect the evolution of natural landscapes, and they possibly lead to catastrophic consequences, such as ice collapse, which threatens the downstream communities. Identifying and monitoring surge-type glaciers has been challenging due to the irregularity of the behavior and limitations on the spatiotemporal coverage of remote-sensing observations. With a focus on the Karakoram region, with concentrated surge-type glaciers, we present a new method to efficiently detect glacier-surging activities by integrating the high temporal resolution of MODIS imagery and the long-term archived medium spatial resolution of Landsat imagery. This method first detects the location and initial time of glacier surges by trend analysis (trend and breakpoint) from MODIS data, which is implemented by the Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST) tool. The initial location and time information is then validated with the detailed surging features, such as the terminus-position changes from Landsat, and the thickness-change patterns from surface-elevation-change maps. Our method identified 74 surging events during 2000–2020 in the Karakoram, including three tributary-glacier surges, and seven newly detected surge-type glaciers. The surge-type glaciers tend to have longer lengths and smaller mean slopes compared with nonsurge-type glaciers. A comparison with previous studies demonstrated the method efficiency for detecting the surging of large-scale and mesoscale glaciers, with limitations on small and narrow glaciers due to the spatial-resolution limitation of MODIS images. For the 38 surge-type nondebris-covered glaciers, we provide details of the surging, which depict the high variability (heavy-tailed distribution) in the surging parameters in the region, and the concentration of the surge initiation during 2008–2010 and 2013–2015. The updated glacier-surging information solidifies the basis for a further investigation of the surging processes at polythermal glaciers, and for an improved assessment of the glacier-mass balance and monitoring of glacier hazards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of the Relationship between High Mountain Asia Snow Cover and Drought and Flood in the Yangtze River Basin during 1980–2019

by Heng Zhou, Lu Zhang, Xuting Liu, Dong Liang, Qi Zhu and Yiting Gou

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(15), 3588; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14153588 - 27 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1651

Abstract

High Mountain Asia (HMA), with its high altitude, widely distributed snow and frozen soil, influences the climate of the northern hemisphere and even the world through thermal balance and the water vapor cycle and is also an indicator of global climate change. The influence of HMA snow cover on its surrounding areas has always been a research hotspot. Taking the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) of China as an example, this paper analyzes the relationship between winter snow depth in HMA and drought and flood in spring and summer in the YRB in the recent 40 years by using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The results show that the influence of snow cover on drought and flood in spring is inversely different between eastern and western parts of HMA, while the effect in summer is consistent. When the snow depth is larger (smaller) in the east and smaller (larger) in the west in winter, the YRB is drier (wetter) in spring. When the overall snow depth in HMA is larger (smaller) in winter, the northern part of the middle and lower reaches of the YRB is drier (wetter) in summer. The results provide support for understanding the impact of HMA snow cover on the surrounding climate and some important indicators for drought and flood prediction in the YRB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Unraveling the Hydrology of Himalayan Catchment Based on Remote Sensing Technology

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (9 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI