Is China's fifth-largest inland lake to dry-up? Incorporated hydrological and satellite-based methods for forecasting Hulun lake water levels

Cai, Zuansi; Jin, Taoyong; Li, Changyou; Ofterdinger, Ulrich; Sheng, Zhang; Ding, Aizhong; Li, Jiancheng

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2016.05.010

Cited by 46 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At lower lake water levels, there is no lake outlet, and Hulun Lake is a closed, or endorheic basin, with evaporation providing the main source of water loss. There has been no outflow from Hulun Lake since 2000 [3]. Hulun Lake, and the Xinkai River, which intermittently provides an outlet for Hulun Lake to the Hailaer River; (c) River, domestic water well, and lake sampling site locations.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It supports a unique wetland ecosystem that includes many endangered species, and is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance included within UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves [3]. An approximately four-meter water level decline (observed since 2001) has resulted in a rapidly shrinking lake size [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Low river flows have contributed to decreased water levels, which have caused Hulun Lake to become endorheic (i.e., lacking any surface water outflow). No outflow has occurred through Hulun Lake's outlet (the Xinkai River) since 2000 [3], and lake water salinity has increased from 1466 mg/L in 1999 to 2395 mg/L in 2011 [6]. Moreover, the lake has suffered from visible eutrophication, impacting its ecological function [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concern over the declining lake water level and deteriorated water quality have prompted research [3,5,[8][9][10][11]] which has linked decreased water level to climate change. However, few lake water budget studies were conducted due to sparseness of available hydrologic and geologic information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Understanding the Role of Groundwater in a Remote Transboundary Lake (Hulun Lake, China)

Gao

Ryan

et al. 2017

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hulun Lake, located in a remote, semi-arid area in the northeast part of Inner Mongolia, China, shares a transboundary basin with Mongolia and supports a unique wetland ecosystem that includes many endangered species. Decadal scale decreases in the lake stage and increased salinity make an understanding of the lake's water and salt sources critical for appropriate design of strategies to protect and manage the lake. Multiple tracers (chloride, and δ 18 O and δ 2 H in water) in samples collected from lake water, rivers, and nearby water wells were used in conjunction with an annual water balance based on historic data to better understand the lake's major water and salt sources. The average annual water balance was conducted for two time periods : 1981-2000 and 2001-2013. The contribution of river discharge to the annual lake input decreased by half (from 64% to 31%) between the two time periods, while the volumetric contribution of groundwater discharge increased four-fold (from about 11% to about 50% of the total lake input). Significant evaporation was apparent in the stable isotope composition of the present-day lake water, however, evaporation alone could not account for the high lake water chloride concentrations. Limited domestic well water sampling, a regional salinity survey, and saline soils suggest that high chloride groundwater concentrations exist in the region south of the lake. The chloride mass balance suggested that groundwater currently contributes more than 90% of the annual chloride loading to the lake, which is likely four times greater than the earlier period (1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000) with lower groundwater input. The use of water and chloride mass balances combined with water isotope analyses could be applied to other watersheds where hydrologic information is scarce.

show abstract

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Understanding the Role of Groundwater in a Remote Transboundary Lake (Hulun Lake, China)

Gao

Ryan

et al. 2017

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Detection and attribution of lake water loss in the semi‐arid Mongolian Plateau—A case study in the Lake Dalinor

Bai

Liu

et al. 2020

Ecohydrology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Extensive lake shrinkages have been observed in the semi‐arid Mongolian Plateau over the past several decades, causing a great challenge to the local socio‐economic sustainability and ecological security. However, issue on the dominant drivers of this water loss has not been well addressed. In this work, variations in water area and water level of the Lake Dalinor during the period 1984–2018 were tracked using the satellite altimetry and Landsat images. Dominant drivers for the derived variations were then investigated based on the Standard Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI) analysis and the Vegetation Interface Processes model. Results showed that both the water area and water level displayed a two‐stage variation with a slightly increasing trend before 2000 and a drastic decline since 2000 (p < 0.01). The SPEI analysis revealed a close relationship between water level variations and the cumulative water anomalies at seasonal and annual scales. The model‐based attribution analysis suggested that climate change and anthropogenic impacts contributed 76.5% and 23.5% of the observed declining trend, respectively. Climate warming and drying dominated the water level decline since 2000, while the large‐scale conversion from the natural grassland to the seeded pasture might have accelerated this water loss process. This study confirmed the prominent impacts of climate warming and drying on the lake desiccation in the semi‐arid Mongolian Plateau and highlighted the gradually intensifying impacts of human activities such as grassland conversion on the lake water budget.

show abstract

Linking meteorological patterns shift to hydrological extremes in a lake watershed across the mid-high latitude transition region

Sun

Lotz

2020

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Is China's fifth-largest inland lake to dry-up? Incorporated hydrological and satellite-based methods for forecasting Hulun lake water levels

Cited by 46 publications

References 31 publications

Understanding the Role of Groundwater in a Remote Transboundary Lake (Hulun Lake, China)

Understanding the Role of Groundwater in a Remote Transboundary Lake (Hulun Lake, China)

Detection and attribution of lake water loss in the semi‐arid Mongolian Plateau—A case study in the Lake Dalinor

Linking meteorological patterns shift to hydrological extremes in a lake watershed across the mid-high latitude transition region

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About