Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Qaidam Basin in western China is highly sensitive to climate change. The GRACE mascon products provide variations of TWS anomalies (TWSAs), greatly facilitating the exploration of water storage dynamics. However, the main meteorological factors affecting the TW...

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Main Authors: Liang Chang, Qunhui Zhang, Xiaofan Gu, Rui Duan, Qian Wang, Xiangzhi You
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Hydrology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/5/105
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author Liang Chang
Qunhui Zhang
Xiaofan Gu
Rui Duan
Qian Wang
Xiangzhi You
author_facet Liang Chang
Qunhui Zhang
Xiaofan Gu
Rui Duan
Qian Wang
Xiangzhi You
author_sort Liang Chang
collection DOAJ
description Terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Qaidam Basin in western China is highly sensitive to climate change. The GRACE mascon products provide variations of TWS anomalies (TWSAs), greatly facilitating the exploration of water storage dynamics. However, the main meteorological factors affecting the TWSA dynamics in this region need to be comprehensively investigated. In this study, variations in TWSAs over the Qaidam Basin from 2002 to 2024 were analyzed using three GRACE mascon products with CSR, JPL, and GSFC. The groundwater storage anomalies (GWAs) were extracted through GRACE and GLDAS products. The impact of meteorological elements on TWSAs and GWAs was identified. The results showed that the GRACE mascon products showed a significant increasing trend with a rate of 0.51 ± 0.13 mm per month in TWSAs across the entire basin from 2003 to 2016. The groundwater part accounted for the largest proportion and was the main contributor to the increase in TWS for the entire basin. In addition to the dominant role of precipitation, other meteorological elements, particularly air humidity and solar radiation, were also identified as important contributors to TWSA and GWA variations. This study highlighted the climatic effect on water storage variations, which have important implications for local water resource management and ecological conservation under ongoing climate change.
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issn 2306-5338
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publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
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series Hydrology
spelling doaj-art-2b91c25be3a242bdb8b2e57e272f53532025-08-20T02:33:54ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382025-04-0112510510.3390/hydrology12050105Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam BasinLiang Chang0Qunhui Zhang1Xiaofan Gu2Rui Duan3Qian Wang4Xiangzhi You5Xi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Xi’an 710119, ChinaTerrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Qaidam Basin in western China is highly sensitive to climate change. The GRACE mascon products provide variations of TWS anomalies (TWSAs), greatly facilitating the exploration of water storage dynamics. However, the main meteorological factors affecting the TWSA dynamics in this region need to be comprehensively investigated. In this study, variations in TWSAs over the Qaidam Basin from 2002 to 2024 were analyzed using three GRACE mascon products with CSR, JPL, and GSFC. The groundwater storage anomalies (GWAs) were extracted through GRACE and GLDAS products. The impact of meteorological elements on TWSAs and GWAs was identified. The results showed that the GRACE mascon products showed a significant increasing trend with a rate of 0.51 ± 0.13 mm per month in TWSAs across the entire basin from 2003 to 2016. The groundwater part accounted for the largest proportion and was the main contributor to the increase in TWS for the entire basin. In addition to the dominant role of precipitation, other meteorological elements, particularly air humidity and solar radiation, were also identified as important contributors to TWSA and GWA variations. This study highlighted the climatic effect on water storage variations, which have important implications for local water resource management and ecological conservation under ongoing climate change.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/5/105terrestrial water storagegroundwaterclimate changemeteorological elementQaidam Basin
spellingShingle Liang Chang
Qunhui Zhang
Xiaofan Gu
Rui Duan
Qian Wang
Xiangzhi You
Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
Hydrology
terrestrial water storage
groundwater
climate change
meteorological element
Qaidam Basin
title Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
title_full Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
title_fullStr Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
title_full_unstemmed Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
title_short Responses of Terrestrial Water Storage to Climate Change in the Closed Alpine Qaidam Basin
title_sort responses of terrestrial water storage to climate change in the closed alpine qaidam basin
topic terrestrial water storage
groundwater
climate change
meteorological element
Qaidam Basin
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/5/105
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AT qunhuizhang responsesofterrestrialwaterstoragetoclimatechangeintheclosedalpineqaidambasin
AT xiaofangu responsesofterrestrialwaterstoragetoclimatechangeintheclosedalpineqaidambasin
AT ruiduan responsesofterrestrialwaterstoragetoclimatechangeintheclosedalpineqaidambasin
AT qianwang responsesofterrestrialwaterstoragetoclimatechangeintheclosedalpineqaidambasin
AT xiangzhiyou responsesofterrestrialwaterstoragetoclimatechangeintheclosedalpineqaidambasin