Correlation Between Annual Runoff in the Heihe River to the Vegetation Cover in the Ejina Oasis (China)

Jin, Xin; Schaepman, Michael E.; Clevers, J.G.P.W.; Su, Zhongbo; Hu, Gengxi

doi:10.1080/15324980903439297

Cited by 32 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Many previous studies on vegetation changes in the lower reaches of Heihe River basin have assumed that vegetation increase is a sign of vegetation recovery/restoration [12,19,29]. However, vegetation increase and vegetation recovery/restoration could be different processes.…”

Section: Vegetation Increase and Vegetation Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mean temperature in Ejina County is 9.5 • C, and the mean annual precipitation was 54.0 mm during 1973-2013 (Appendix A Figure A1). The annual potential evaporation of this area ranges from 3700 to 4000 mm [19]. Under these arid conditions, surface water from the Heihe River is a crucial water source for the local ecosystem.…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The decrease in river discharge and decline of groundwater level caused the two terminal lakes, the West Juyan lake with an area of 267 km 2 and the East Juyan lake with an area of 35 km 2 , to dry up in 1964 and 1991, respectively [21]. This deterioration of the water environment resulted in a significant decrease of vegetation coverage throughout the oasis, which has contributed to severe sandstorms, consequently furthering wind erosion, soil impoverishment, and desertification [19,24].…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The river is 821 km long, flowing through three provinces (or autonomous regions): Qinghai, Gansu, and the Inner Mongolia of China; its watershed covers an area of 128,283 km 2 [19,20]. The river basin can be divided into upper, middle, and lower reaches based on ecological and socioeconomic features of the different areas.…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The annual precipitation of the middle reaches ranges from 100 mm to 300 mm, and the annual potential evaporation is about 2500 mm [22]. The lower reaches of the Heihe River basin cover more than 114,000 km 2 , with over 90% of the land cover occupied by the Gobi Desert [19]. The lower reaches maintain a typical continental arid climate, with annual precipitation levels less than 100 mm and annual potential evaporation levels at or more than 3000 mm [24].…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The Impact of Ecological Restoration Projects in Dry Lands: Data-based Assessment and Human Perceptions in the Lower Reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

et al. 2018

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Desertification is a critical environmental problem in China's northwestern region. In this context, since the early 2000s, projects targeting ecological restoration have been implemented in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin. Using multi-scale remote sensing data and field observations, this paper examines the outcomes of the ecological restoration projects. Specifically, this paper examines the vegetation change through remote sensing and local perceptions of the projects through semi-structured questionnaires. The results from remote sensing reveal that during the restoration projects, vegetation coverage in riparian areas of the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin increased. However, this increase cannot be simply equated with ecological recovery. Expansion of farmland and afforested areas have also contributed to the increase in vegetation coverage. Questionnaire results reveal that although locals perceived improvements in the ecological conditions of the lower reaches, most of them were more about future environmental changes. Additionally, results indicate that ecological restoration projects redistributed water resources in the local river reaches and, as a result, local residents living in riparian areas perceive greater benefit. Therefore, the implementation of the project may have actually negatively impacted the water accessibility of those living in the drier Gobi Desert areas.

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Section: Vegetation Increase and Vegetation Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Ecological Restoration Projects in Dry Lands: Data-based Assessment and Human Perceptions in the Lower Reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

et al. 2018

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Modeled effects of irrigation on surface climate in the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

2017

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In Northwest China, water originates from the mountain area and is largely used for irrigation agriculture in the middle reaches. This study investigates the local and remote impact of irrigation on regional climate in the Heihe River Basin, the second largest inland river basin in Northwest China. An irrigation scheme was developed and incorporated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with the Noah‐MP land surface scheme (WRF/Noah‐MP). The effects of irrigation is assessed by comparing the model simulations with and without consideration of irrigation (hereafter, IRRG and NATU simulations, respectively) for five growth seasons (May to September) from 2009 to 2013. As consequences of irrigation, daily mean temperature decreased by ~1.7°C and humidity increased by ~2.3 g kg−1 (corresponding to ~38.5%) over irrigated area. The temperature and humidity of IRRG simulation matched well with the observations, whereas NATU simulation overestimated temperature and underestimated humidity over irrigated area. The effects on temperature and humidity are generally small outside the irrigated area. The cooling and wetting effects have opposing impacts on convective precipitation, resulting in a negligible change in localized precipitation over irrigated area. However, irrigation may induce water vapor convergence and enhance precipitation remotely in the southeastern portion of the Heihe River Basin.

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Vegetation responses to an ecological water conveyance project in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2017

Ecohydrology

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The lower reaches of the Heihe River basin (HHLR), which is located in arid and semiarid areas of Northwest China, has experienced severe environmental deterioration in the past several decades. The ecological water conveyance project was initiated by the Chinese Government in 2000 to address this degraded ecosystem. In this paper, runoff, vegetation changes, and the relationship between runoff and vegetation in different regions were explored after the project, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), as a proxy of vegetation cover. For the entire lower reaches, NDVI and runoff exhibit an increasing trend after the project. In spatial, 44% of the vegetation‐covered area is significantly increased; whereas, 37% also exhibits an insignificant increasing trend. Moreover, 15% of the vegetation‐covered area shows an insignificant decreasing trend, and 5% exhibits a significant decrease. Overall, vegetation in HHLR improved after the ecological water conveyance project. The maximum time lag for NDVI along the east river and runoff from the east river, NDVI in the Ejina Oasis and runoff from the east river and the east canal, and NDVI along the west river and runoff from the west river was 4, 4, 3, and 6 years, respectively. However, runoff from last year had a significant influence on the current year's NDVI for the east river and the east canal. Meanwhile, autumn runoff shows a significant influence on the next year's NDVI, and spring runoff is important to the current year's NDVI. So we concluded that it is reasonable to convey more water into HHLR in autumn and spring.

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Correlation Between Annual Runoff in the Heihe River to the Vegetation Cover in the Ejina Oasis (China)

Cited by 32 publications

References 28 publications

The Impact of Ecological Restoration Projects in Dry Lands: Data-based Assessment and Human Perceptions in the Lower Reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

The Impact of Ecological Restoration Projects in Dry Lands: Data-based Assessment and Human Perceptions in the Lower Reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

Modeled effects of irrigation on surface climate in the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Vegetation responses to an ecological water conveyance project in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin

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