Modeling hydrological process in a glacier basin on the central Tibetan Plateau with a distributed hydrology soil vegetation model

Abstract

A mass and energy balance‐based glacier melt module was coupled with the spatially distributed hydrological soil vegetation model and used to simulate the basin‐scale water and energy balance in the Zhadang glacier basin. Observed hourly meteorological data from 2011 to 2014 were used as model forcing data. The basin‐scale simulations were evaluated at both the point and areal scales using albedo, temperature, and height change on the glacier surface, as well as the mass balance and streamflow of the whole basin. The analysis showed that the model could effectively reproduce the key elements of the energy and mass balance of the Zhadang basin. The analysis demonstrates that radiation was the most important energy component accounting for 80% of total surface energy. On average, glacier runoff contributed to 64% of the total basin discharge during the study period. The overall streamflow was controlled by the glacier mass balance in 2012 and 2014, while temperature and precipitation affected hydrological processes the most during 2011 and 2013. Both high temperature and precipitation resulted in high total basin streamflow but via different mechanisms. High temperatures increase glacier mass loss and glacier melt runoff, whereas high precipitation decreases glacier melt runoff but produces high runoff in nonglacier areas. The early onset of the Indian monsoon with high snowfall reduces glacier surface melt but sustains basin discharge, positively affecting for water resources.

Glacier Mass Balance in the Nyainqentanglha Mountains between 2000 and 2017 Retrieved from ZiYuan-3 Stereo Images and the SRTM DEM

“…a −1 , rather close to previous studies with range in -0.2 to -0.24 ± 0.13 m w.e. a −1 [5,9,71]. In the ENM our region−wide mass balance of -0.56 ± 0.20 m w.e.…”

“…Firstly, we compared our results with others in some special glaciers with in-situ observations available. Thus far, in-situ measurements glacier mass balances were available on three glaciers in our study regions [35,57,58,71], i.e., the Zhadang and Gurenhekou glaciers (WNM) and the Parlung No.4 (ENM) ( Tables 8 and 9). As a whole, our results were consistent with other geodetic mass balance results, the range of difference between them is from 0.07 to 0.13 m w.e.…”

“…Yu et al [35] In-situ 2005−2008 −0.59 Zhang et al [57] In−situ 2009−2011 −1.20 Zhang et al [71] In−situ 2011−2014 −1.60 Li et al [9] TerraSAR-X/ TanDEM…”

Simulation and Analysis of the Water Balance of the Nam Co Lake Using SWAT Model

“…Moreover, the tertiary objective was to estimate the GMB at small (single glacier), and large scale (whole Nam Co basin glaciers) of the Nam Co basin. Most of the past studies carried out in the Nam Co basin to investigate the hydrological characteristics and GMB analysis at subbasin scale, i.e., [19,22,23,25], while a few researchers examined the hydrological characteristics at the basin scale [15,29]. However, their studies lead to uncertainties because of using satellite and nearby meteorological stations data as forcing to estimate the water balance of the Nam Co Lake.…”

Estimation of Shortwave Solar Radiation on Clear-Sky Days for a Valley Glacier with Sentinel-2 Time Series

“…Glaciers provide valuable aid in the monitoring of climate change and downward surface shortwave radiation (DSSR) is a major driving factor in the melting of glaciers [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Since the 1880s, some researchers have noted the contributions of solar radiation to glacial changes and ablation [7][8][9][10].…”