TY - JOUR
T1 - Monitoring decadal lake dynamics across the Yangtze Basin downstream of Three Gorges Dam
AU - Wang, Jida
AU - Sheng, Yongwei
AU - Tong, Tak Shun D.
N1 - This research was financially supported by the United States Geological Surveying (USGS) Landsat Science Team Program Grant ( G12PC00071 ), the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2012–2013), and the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award (2013). Constructive suggestions and discussions on mapping methods, result implications, and graphic designs were provided by Lawrence C. Smith, Michael E. Shin, Colin J. Gleason, Vena W. Chu, Shenyue Jia, Evan A. Lyons (UCLA Department of Geography), Steven A. Margulis (UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering), Junli Li (Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science), Yoshihide Wada (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), Kang Yang (Nanking University, China), and Xianwei Wang (Sun Yat-sen University, China). The authors also gratefully acknowledge Joseph K. Lee and Wai-Ho Fung (UCLA Department of Geography) for their partial participation in lake mapping validation, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Vanessa Alcantar, and Rosangela Carreon (UCLA Department of Geography) for downloading and organizing Landsat imagery, Matt Zebrowski (UCLA Department of Geography) for graphical assistance, and Hongzhao Zang (University of Southern California) for acquiring Yangtze gauging station data.
PY - 2014/9
Y1 - 2014/9
N2 - The Yangtze River Basin downstream of China's Three Gorges Dam (TGD) (thereafter referred to as "downstream" basin) hosts the largest cluster of freshwater lakes in East Asia. These lakes are crucial water stocks to local biophysical environments and socioeconomic development. Existing studies document that individual lakes in this region have recently experienced dramatic changes under the context of enduring meteorological drought, continuous population growth, and extensive water regulation since TGD's initial impoundment (i.e., June, 2003). However, spatial and temporal patterns of lake dynamics across the complete downstream Yangtze basin remain poorly characterized. Using daily MODIS imagery and an advanced thematic mapping scheme, this study presents a comprehensive monitoring of area dynamics in the downstream lake system at a 10-day temporal resolution during 2000-2011. The studied lakes constitute ~76% (~11,400km2) of the total downstream lake area, including the entire +70 major lakes larger than 20km2. The results reveal a decadal net decline in lake inundation area across the downstream Yangtze Basin, with a cumulative decrease of 849km2 or 7.4% from 2000 to 2011. Despite an excessive precipitation anomaly in the year 2010, the decreasing trend was tested significant in all seasons. The most substantial decrease in the post-TGD period appears in fall (1.1%yr-1), which intriguingly coincides with the TGD water storage season. Regional lake dynamics exhibit contrasting spatial patterns, manifested as evident decrease and increase of aggregated lake areas respectively within and beyond the Yangtze Plain. This contrast suggests a marked vulnerability of lakes in the Yangtze Plain, to not only local meteorological variability but also intensified human water regulations from both the upstream Yangtze main stem (e.g., the TGD) and tributaries (e.g., lakes/reservoirs beyond the Yangtze Plain). The produced lake mapping result and derived lake area dynamics across the downstream Yangtze Basin provides a crucial monitoring basis for continuous investigations of changing mechanisms in the Yangtze lake system.
AB - The Yangtze River Basin downstream of China's Three Gorges Dam (TGD) (thereafter referred to as "downstream" basin) hosts the largest cluster of freshwater lakes in East Asia. These lakes are crucial water stocks to local biophysical environments and socioeconomic development. Existing studies document that individual lakes in this region have recently experienced dramatic changes under the context of enduring meteorological drought, continuous population growth, and extensive water regulation since TGD's initial impoundment (i.e., June, 2003). However, spatial and temporal patterns of lake dynamics across the complete downstream Yangtze basin remain poorly characterized. Using daily MODIS imagery and an advanced thematic mapping scheme, this study presents a comprehensive monitoring of area dynamics in the downstream lake system at a 10-day temporal resolution during 2000-2011. The studied lakes constitute ~76% (~11,400km2) of the total downstream lake area, including the entire +70 major lakes larger than 20km2. The results reveal a decadal net decline in lake inundation area across the downstream Yangtze Basin, with a cumulative decrease of 849km2 or 7.4% from 2000 to 2011. Despite an excessive precipitation anomaly in the year 2010, the decreasing trend was tested significant in all seasons. The most substantial decrease in the post-TGD period appears in fall (1.1%yr-1), which intriguingly coincides with the TGD water storage season. Regional lake dynamics exhibit contrasting spatial patterns, manifested as evident decrease and increase of aggregated lake areas respectively within and beyond the Yangtze Plain. This contrast suggests a marked vulnerability of lakes in the Yangtze Plain, to not only local meteorological variability but also intensified human water regulations from both the upstream Yangtze main stem (e.g., the TGD) and tributaries (e.g., lakes/reservoirs beyond the Yangtze Plain). The produced lake mapping result and derived lake area dynamics across the downstream Yangtze Basin provides a crucial monitoring basis for continuous investigations of changing mechanisms in the Yangtze lake system.
KW - Climate variation
KW - Human activities
KW - Lakes
KW - MODIS
KW - Three Gorges Dam
KW - Yangtze Basin
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84904512143
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84904512143#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1016/j.rse.2014.06.004
DO - 10.1016/j.rse.2014.06.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84904512143
SN - 0034-4257
VL - 152
SP - 251
EP - 269
JO - Remote Sensing of Environment
JF - Remote Sensing of Environment
ER -