Glacier area changes in the Nujiang-Salween River Basin over the past 45 years

doi:10.1007/s11442-022-1991-8

Abstract

Abstract:

Automated image classification and visual interpretation of Landsat imagery were used to extract the glacier boundary in the Nujiang-Salween River Basin (NSRB) around the years 1975, 2000, and 2020. The spatiotemporal characteristics of glacier area changes in the NSRB were determined and the reasons for the spatial heterogeneity in glacier area changes were discussed, based on comparative analyses of temperature and precipitation data from meteorological stations around the NSRB. The results indicate that 1) the total glacier area in the NSRB decreased by 477.78 km² (28.17%) at a rate of -0.62%/a in 1975-2020. Most shrinkage occurred at low and mid altitudes, with the most severe occurring at 5290-5540 m, accounting for 40% of the total shrinkage. Considering other river basins in China, the relative glacier area change rate in the NSRB was similar to that for typical inland river basins in northwest China but lower than that for other transboundary river basins in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. 2) These areal changes in the NSRB presented obvious regional differences. The glaciers in the Hengduan Mountains retreated significantly, followed by those in the Nyainqentanglha Mountains, with relatively low shrinkage observed in the Tanggula Mountains. The number of cold and hot spots indicating areal changes increased after 2000, along with their spatial heterogeneity. 3) The glacier shrinkage rate over different time intervals was positively correlated with temperature. Thus, spatial heterogeneity of climate change effects could elucidate differences in the glacier area change rate in different regions of the NSRB. The temperature rise was determined as the primary reason for the significant glacial retreat over the past 45 years. As the significant warming trend continues, the glacier area in the NSRB is likely to shrink further.

Key words: glacier change, climate change, remote sensing, Nujiang-Salween River Basin, international river

JI Xuan, CHEN Yunfang, JIANG Wei, LIU Chang, YANG Luyi. Glacier area changes in the Nujiang-Salween River Basin over the past 45 years[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2022, 32(6): 1177-1200.

Figures/Tables 20

Figure 1

Table 1

Table S2

Figure 2

Figure S1

Table S1

Comparison of glacier area extracted based on MSS data and KH data

No.	GLIMS_ID	Area (km²)		Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
No.	GLIMS_ID	KH-9	MSS	Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
1	G092530E32610N	0.37	0.28	-0.08	-22.45
2	G092531E32593N	0.13	0.07	-0.06	-45.19
3	G092533E32623N	1.20	1.26	0.06	5.25
4	G092537E32591N	0.30	0.25	-0.04	-14.44
5	G092553E32562N	0.15	0.12	-0.03	-22.23
6	G092557E32598N	0.77	0.65	-0.12	-15.27
7	G092560E32589N	0.11	0.13	0.02	15.06
8	G092564E32569N	0.42	0.40	-0.02	-4.10
9	G092564E32581N	0.33	0.42	0.09	26.66
10	G092581E32605N	0.73	0.72	-0.01	-0.67
11	G092585E32600N	0.80	1.08	0.28	35.21
12	G092597E32594N	0.38	0.25	-0.13	-33.06
13	G092608E32559N	0.76	0.27	-0.49	-64.90
14	G092614E32580N	0.72	0.50	-0.22	-30.52
15	G092615E32564N	0.46	0.35	-0.11	-23.52
16	G092623E32729N	1.16	1.17	0.01	1.26
17	G092627E32593N	1.33	1.38	0.05	3.77
18	G092627E32712N	0.54	0.58	0.03	6.19
No.	GLIMS_ID	Area (km²)		Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
No.	GLIMS_ID	KH-9	MSS	Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
19	G092629E32576N	2.13	1.97	-0.17	-7.79
20	G092629E32720N	0.66	0.66	-0.01	-1.00
21	G092631E32710N	0.58	0.74	0.16	26.93
22	G092638E32571N	0.68	0.53	-0.15	-22.24
23	G092640E32610N	0.70	0.62	-0.08	-11.20
24	G092641E32715N	2.23	2.14	-0.09	-3.95
25	G092646E32596N	0.62	0.67	0.06	9.15
26	G092646E32604N	0.60	0.54	-0.06	-10.56
27	G092647E32616N	0.84	0.79	-0.05	-6.03
28	G092650E32712N	0.62	0.78	0.16	26.06
29	G092653E32719N	0.56	0.71	0.14	25.52
30	G092656E32591N	0.97	0.81	-0.16	-16.52
31	G092662E32724N	1.83	1.73	-0.10	-5.42
32	G092664E32596N	0.27	0.26	-0.01	-5.01
33	G092666E32592N	0.16	0.18	0.02	9.69
34	G092672E32587N	0.89	0.93	0.04	4.58
35	G092673E32713N	0.37	0.29	-0.08	-21.13
36	G092679E32736N	3.22	3.23	0.02	0.48
37	G092680E32586N	0.51	0.56	0.05	10.45
38	G092680E32708N	0.71	0.71	0.00	0.36
39	G092690E32720N	4.99	4.95	-0.05	-0.97
40	G092694E32707N	1.75	1.56	-0.18	-10.59
41	G092701E32585N	0.81	0.59	-0.23	-27.97
42	G092707E32583N	0.34	0.33	-0.01	-3.29
43	G092708E32696N	0.91	0.99	0.08	8.51
44	G092709E32706N	1.40	1.25	-0.15	-10.90
45	G092714E32719N	0.52	0.69	0.17	32.79
46	G092728E32696N	1.46	1.28	-0.19	-12.88
47	G092746E32619N	1.12	0.97	-0.15	-13.36
48	G092770E32720N	0.86	1.07	0.20	23.70
49	G092794E32716N	0.46	0.66	0.20	42.86
50	G092795E32707N	0.22	0.22	0.00	1.07
51	G092801E32724N	1.61	1.87	0.27	16.52
52	G092811E32717N	0.63	0.86	0.23	35.80
53	G092812E32698N	0.39	0.40	0.01	2.42
54	G092816E32690N	0.53	0.53	0.00	-0.78
55	G093384E31763N	1.11	1.16	0.05	4.26
56	G093390E31752N	0.49	0.38	-0.11	-22.60
57	G093391E31737N	0.08	0.10	0.02	20.86
58	G093394E31745N	0.64	0.67	0.02	3.36
59	G093400E31763N	0.13	0.20	0.07	50.87
60	G093402E31768N	0.20	0.19	-0.01	-3.85
No.	GLIMS_ID	Area (km²)		Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
No.	GLIMS_ID	KH-9	MSS	Deviation (km²)	Error rate (%)
61	G093403E31742N	0.50	0.39	-0.10	-20.26
62	G093409E31746N	0.18	0.12	-0.05	-30.08
63	G093413E31738N	0.87	0.80	-0.07	-8.57
64	G093414E31748N	0.04	0.03	-0.01	-16.42
65	G093424E31734N	0.28	0.20	-0.08	-28.98
66	G093434E31735N	0.32	0.30	-0.02	-5.35
67	G093435E31740N	0.33	0.20	-0.13	-39.78
68	G093439E31741N	0.15	0.09	-0.06	-36.70
69	G093439E31748N	0.36	0.33	-0.03	-8.86
70	G093439E31756N	0.42	0.44	0.02	5.13
71	G093448E31742N	2.08	1.70	-0.37	-17.86
72	G093463E31801N	0.46	0.41	-0.05	-11.19
73	G093465E31763N	0.79	0.74	-0.05	-6.35
74	G093466E31746N	0.86	1.01	0.14	16.36
75	G093467E31754N	0.28	0.22	-0.06	-20.94
76	G093472E31771N	2.73	2.45	-0.29	-10.51
77	G093475E31732N	2.11	1.74	-0.37	-17.49
78	G093475E31758N	0.43	0.36	-0.07	-17.21
79	G093488E31767N	2.25	2.25	0.00	0.07
80	G093496E31745N	0.22	0.16	-0.06	-25.92
81	G093496E31761N	0.39	0.33	-0.06	-15.93
82	G093497E31752N	0.17	0.16	-0.01	-8.70
83	G093501E31771N	0.39	0.35	-0.04	-9.13
84	G093514E31798N	0.58	0.60	0.02	4.06
85	G093515E31792N	0.47	0.40	-0.07	-14.18
86	G094626E31817N	3.80	3.46	-0.34	-8.86
87	G094626E31837N	5.98	5.87	-0.11	-1.90
88	G094631E31856N	2.37	1.88	-0.49	-20.67
89	G094667E31807N	37.81	36.25	-1.56	-4.12
90	G094684E31847N	17.64	16.90	-0.74	-4.19
91	G094692E31769N	2.10	1.72	-0.38	-17.95
92	G094702E31775N	0.85	0.76	-0.09	-10.96
93	G094702E31855N	0.60	0.62	0.02	3.82
94	G094710E31868N	1.87	1.82	-0.05	-2.49
95	G094713E31856N	0.39	0.48	0.09	23.16
96	G094716E31863N	0.21	0.26	0.04	20.69
97	G094720E31839N	11.34	11.06	-0.28	-2.48
98	G094728E31782N	24.11	22.62	-1.50	-6.20
99	G094732E31843N	0.65	0.55	-0.10	-15.37
100	G094745E31824N	15.36	14.97	-0.40	-2.57
Sum		193.21	184.64	-8.57
Avg					-4.40

Table S1

Figure 3

Figure 4

Table 2

Figure 5

Figure 6

Table 3

Figure 7

Figure 8

Table 4

Figure 9

Figure 10

Table 5

Figure S2

Table 6

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Period	Date	Path/Row	Cloud cover (%)	Sensor	Spatial resolution
Around 1975	1974-01-05	142/41	2.0	Landsat MSS	80 m
	1975-11-30	143/41	3.0
	1974-01-05	142/40	4.0
	1976-10-19	143/40	6.0
	1976-10-19	143/39	3.0
	1976-11-25	144/39	15.0
	1977-08-05	145/38	17.0
	1977-08-06	146/38	3.0
	1977-08-05	145/39	42.0
	1976-12-15	146/39	21.0
	1976-12-15	146/38	5.0
	1976-12-16	147/37	1.0
	1976-12-16	147/39	12.0
	1976-12-16	147/38	6.0
	1976-12-17	148/37	1.0
	1976-12-17	148/38	3.0
2000s	2001-07-04	133/40	19.0	Landsat TM	30 m
	2000-07-17	133/40	18.0
	1999-09-24	134/40	26.0
	1999-06-04	134/39	17.0
	2001-07-09	136/38	26.0
	2000-07-22	136/38	22.0
	1999-09-22	136/38	7.0
	2000-07-22	136/39	31.0
	1999-09-22	136/39	3.0
	2000-08-30	137/37	0.0
	2000-12-25	132/41	0.0	Landsat ETM+
	2000-12-25	132/40	0.0
	2001-12-19	133/39	0.0
	2001-12-19	133/40	10.0
	2001-10-23	134/39	0.0
	2001-10-23	134/38	10.0
	1999-09-23	135/39	0.0
	1999-09-23	135/38	0.0
	2001-07-08	137/39	21.0
	2000-12-28	137/39	10.0
	2000-12-28	137/38	10.0
Period	Date	Path/Row	Cloud cover (%)	Sensor	Spatial resolution
2020s	2019-08-16	132/41	6.2	Landsat OLI	30 m
	2020-12-24	132/40	0.5
	2020-08-25	133/40	21.7
	2017-10-20	133/40	9.6
	2020-09-01	134/39	15.0
	2017-09-25	134/39	27.9
	2019-08-14	134/39	23.8
	2020-10-10	135/39	35.6
	2020-10-10	135/38	0.9
	2019-06-25	136/38	14.0
	2020-12-20	136/38	0.9
	2020-10-17	136/38	1.0
	2019-06-25	136/39	54.6
	2020-10-24	137/39	0.4
	2021-01-28	137/38	0.2
	2021-01-28	137/37	0.4
	2020-10-31	138/38	1.1

Name	Station ID	Elevation (m)	Annual average temperature (℃)
Anduo	55294	4694	-2.26
Naqu	55299	4508	-0.52
Suoxian	56106	3995	2.24
Biru	56109	4019	3.85
Dingqing	56116	3948	3.77
Leiwuqi	56128	3826	3.42
Jiali	56202	5246	-0.21
Bomi	56227	2745	9.06
Basu	56228	3294	10.83
Zuogong	56331	4244	4.88
Luolong	56233	3797	5.94
Chayu	56434	2959	12.14
Deqing	56444	3197	5.85

Area rank (km²)	APAC (%/a)
Area rank (km²)	Around 1975-2000s	2000s-2020s	Around 1975-2020s
< 2^-3	-0.01	-1.29	-0.67
2^-3-2^-1	-0.90	-1.31	-0.90
2^-1-2¹	-1.06	-0.89	-0.89
2¹-2³	-1.03	-0.33	-0.72
2³-2⁵	-0.64	-0.23	-0.47
> 2⁵	-0.75	-0.15	-0.46
In total	-0.80	-1.16	-0.84

Mountains	Around 1975		2000s		2020s
Mountains	Area (km²)	Percentage (%)	Area (km²)	Percentage (%)	Area (km²)	Percentage (%)
Hengduan Mountains	552.86	32.60	402.36	29.25	331.32	27.20
Nyainqentanglha Mountains	662.66	39.07	559.46	40.68	508.35	41.73
Tanggula Mountains	480.52	28.33	413.55	30.07	378.59	31.08
Total	1696.04	100	1375.37	100	1218.26	100

Hot and cold spots confidence level	Proportion of glacier number (%)		Average change area (km²)		Variance
Hot and cold spots confidence level	Around 1975- 2000s	2000s-2020s	Around 1975 -2000s	2000s-2020s	Around 1975 -2000s	2000s-2020s
Cold spot-99% confidence	0	3.02	-	0.04	-	0.002
Cold spot-95% confidence	0	6.67	-	0.03	-	0.002
Cold spot-90% confidence	0	6.28	-	0.04	-	0.004
Not significant	95.51	65.79	0.16	0.08	0.058	0.009
Hot spot-90% confidence	1.05	3.56	0.66	0.19	0.304	0.044
Hot spot-95% confidence	1.01	5.78	0.67	0.22	0.285	0.055
Hot spot-99% confidence	2.45	8.85	1.81	0.23	5.605	0.085