Lakes around Asia Water Tower

[RSNuo]

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var AWTlakes_1977_wet = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_1977_wet")
var AWTlakes_1990_wet = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_1990_wet")
var AWTlakes_2000_wet = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2000_wet")
var AWTlakes_2010_wet = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2010_wet")
var AWTlakes_2020_wet = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2020_wet")

var AWTlakes_1977_dry = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_1977_dry")
var AWTlakes_1990_dry = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_1990_dry")
var AWTlakes_2000_dry = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2000_dry")
var AWTlakes_2010_dry = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2010_dry")
var AWTlakes_2020_dry = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/ee-nnnxu/assets/AWTlakes_2020_dry")

Recent studies indicate that the Asian Water Tower (AWT) is at risk due to climate change, which can negatively impact water and food security in Asia. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information on lakes' spatial and temporal changes in this region. This information is crucial for understanding the risk magnitude and designing strategies. To fill this research gap, we analyzed 89,480 Landsat images from 1977±2 to 2020±2 to investigate the changes in the size of lakes recharged by the AWT. Our findings showed that out of the 209 lakes larger than 50 km2, 176 (84%) grew during the wet season and 167 (81%) during the dry season. 74% of expanded lakes are located in the Inner Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Tarim basins. The lakes that shrank are found mainly in the Helmand, Indus, and Yangtze basins. Over the entire period, the area of shrinkage (55,077.028 km2 in wet season, 53986.796 km2 in dry) markedly exceeded expansion (13,000.267 km2 in wet, 11,038.805 km2 in dry), with the drastic decline of the Aral Sea being a major contributor to shrinkage, accounting for 90% of the total loss. From 1990±2 to 2020±2, alpine lakes mostly expanded, plain lakes mostly shrank, with the opposite trend from 1977±2 to 1990±2. Glacial loss and permafrost thawing under global warming in the Inner TP, Tarim Interior, Syr Darya, and Mekong basins were strongly correlated with lake expansion. However, permafrost discontinuities may prevent significant growth of lakes in the Indus and Ganges basins despite increased recharge. Our findings point to the prominence of the risk the lakes recharged by AWT face. Taking immediate action to manage these risks and adaptation is crucial as the AWT retreats and lake recharges are slowed.

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Curated by: Nuo Xu, Andre Daccache, Peng Gou, Chong Liu, Jiahua Zhang, , Arman Ahmadi, Tianyu Zhou

Keywords: climate change, lake size, remote sensing, Asian Water Tower, basin recharge

Last updated: 11/28/2023

[samapriya]

Hi @RSNuo Could you provide details of the paper and citation details. As well as license information. This will help evaluate and complete the metadata for the dataset.

[RSNuo]

Hi @RSNuo Could you provide details of the paper and citation details. As well as license information. This will help evaluate and complete the metadata for the dataset.

Hi @samapriya The paper is still in review. I'll update these details as soon as it's published. Thanks for your patience!

[samapriya]

Hi @RSNuo Let me know if this paper was published and if you have any details on this now

[samapriya]

Since I have had no response closing for now