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Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2019, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (3): 208-217.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2019.00208.

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MODIS observed snow cover variations in the Aksu River Basin, Northwest China

Jing Li1(),ShiYin Liu2,Qiao Liu3   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
    2. Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
    3. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
  • Received:2018-10-30 Accepted:2019-04-03 Online:2019-06-30 Published:2019-07-01
  • Contact: Jing Li E-mail:Jingli@lzb.ac.cn

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Abstract:

A major proportion of discharge in the Aksu River is contributed from snow- and glacier-melt water. It is therefore essential to understand the cryospheric dynamics in this area for water resource management. The MODIS MOD10A2 remote-sensing database from March 2000 to December 2012 was selected to analyze snow cover changes. Snow cover varied significantly on a temporal and spatial scale for the basin. The difference of the maximum and minimum Snow Cover Fraction (SCF) in winter exceeded 70%. On average for annual cycle, the characteristic of SCF is that it reached the highest value of 53.2% in January and lowest value of 14.7% in July and the distributions of SCF along with elevation is an obvious difference between the range of 3,000 m below and 3,000 m above. The fluctuation of annual average snow cover is strong which shows that the spring snow cover was on the trend of increasing because of decreasing temperatures for the period of 2000-2012. However, temperature in April increased significantly which lead to more snowmelt and a decrease of snow cover. Thus, more attention is needed for flooding in this region due to strong melting of snow.

Key words: MODIS snow data, Aksu River, snow cover fraction, climate change

Figure 1

Location of the Aksu River Basin, SRTM DEM of the basin and gauging station situation within the basin"

Figure 2

Distribution of monthly precipitation and temperature from Aksu and Akqi meteorological stations in the ARB (1957-2012)"

Figure 3

The change of cloud coverage before and after cloud removal using spatial filter method for MODIS 8-day composite snow data"

Table 1

Comparison of snow cover fraction derived from MODIS and TM"

Date (No.) Elevation band Band-wise snow cover fraction
MODIS TM
2000-09-13 (257) <3,000 m 0% 0%
3,000-5,000 m 47% 41%
>5,000 m 88% 81%
2001-10-02 (275) <3,000 m 0% 0%
3,000-5,000 m 63% 56%
>5,000 m 100% 96%
2002-07-17 (198) <3,000 m 0% 0%
3,000-5,000 m 37% 35%
>5,000 m 72% 68%
2002-10-05 (278) <3,000 m 0% 0%
3,000-5,000 m 40% 37%
>5,000 m 78% 74%
2003-03-14 (073) <3,000 m 10% 0%
3,000-5,000 m 51% 46%
>5,000 m 92% 88%

Table 2

Characteristics of four elevation zones extracted from SRTM of the ARB"

Zone Elevation range (m) Mean elevation (m) Area and ratio (km2) Glacier area and ratio (km2)
A 1,062-3,000 1,894 14,632.7 (33.9%) 3 (0.02%)
B 3,000-4,000 3,571 20,244.4 (46.9%) 345 (1.7%)
C 4,000-5,000 4,248 7,832.9 (18.1%) 1,802 (23.0%)
D 5,000-7,182 5,235 413.0 (0.96%) 245 (59.3%)
Total - - 43,123 (100%)

Figure 4

The ARB annual snow cover distribution on monthly (a) and seasonally (b) acquired from MODIS 8-day composite snow data over the period of 2000-2012"

Figure 5

The average, maximum and minimum cycle of 8-day composite snow cover fraction (%) in the ARB over the period of 2000-2012"

Figure 6

The annual cycle of snow cover fraction (%) averaged over the period of 2000-2012 based on the 8-day MODIS snow cover map for four elevation zones. (a) Below 2,000 m; (b) 3,000-4,000 m; (c) 4,000-5,000 m; (d) beyond 5,000 m"

Figure 7

Variation and changing trend of seasonal mean SCF over the period of 2000-2012"

Figure 8

The relationship between SCF and temperature (a), precipitation (b) in the spring time of 2000-2012"

Figure 9

The changing trend of snow cover for spring (March, April and May) in ARB during 2000-2012"

Figure 10

The change trend of temperature and precipitation in spring and in each month of spring over the period of 2000-2012"

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