Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau
Abstract Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are highly responsive to environmental change. Spatiotemporal variations in the lake surface water temperature (LSWT) significantly impact regional ecosystem stability, carbon cycling, and regional climate. However, due to limited observations, the intra-la...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01083-z |
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| author | Bingqing Du Jing Zhou Deliang Chen Hu Liu Baoyan Liu Ruishun Liu Lei Wang |
| author_facet | Bingqing Du Jing Zhou Deliang Chen Hu Liu Baoyan Liu Ruishun Liu Lei Wang |
| author_sort | Bingqing Du |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are highly responsive to environmental change. Spatiotemporal variations in the lake surface water temperature (LSWT) significantly impact regional ecosystem stability, carbon cycling, and regional climate. However, due to limited observations, the intra-lake heterogeneity of LSWT and its driving forces remain unclear. By employing multi-source datasets, especially observation-constrained LSWT and lake inflow data, along with the random forest method, we analyzed three TP lakes (Nam Co, Siling Co, and Paiku Co) during 2001‒2019. No evident inter-annual LSWT changes were detected. Lake inflow (up to 40% contribution) was the main driver of LSWT variations from July to November, followed by air temperature. Spatially, LSWT intra-lake heterogeneity varied among lakes, with Siling Co showing the largest difference (nearly 4 °C) in autumn, mainly caused by river inflow locations and lake bathymetry. This study improves our understanding of the spatiotemporal variations of LWST for high-mountain lakes, providing insights for climate-change adaptation and water resources management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a46f2e638193427eb5e5c0bc27bafb73 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2397-3722 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-a46f2e638193427eb5e5c0bc27bafb732025-08-20T03:48:18ZengNature Portfolionpj Climate and Atmospheric Science2397-37222025-05-018111010.1038/s41612-025-01083-zImportance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan PlateauBingqing Du0Jing Zhou1Deliang Chen2Hu Liu3Baoyan Liu4Ruishun Liu5Lei Wang6State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Earth System Science, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are highly responsive to environmental change. Spatiotemporal variations in the lake surface water temperature (LSWT) significantly impact regional ecosystem stability, carbon cycling, and regional climate. However, due to limited observations, the intra-lake heterogeneity of LSWT and its driving forces remain unclear. By employing multi-source datasets, especially observation-constrained LSWT and lake inflow data, along with the random forest method, we analyzed three TP lakes (Nam Co, Siling Co, and Paiku Co) during 2001‒2019. No evident inter-annual LSWT changes were detected. Lake inflow (up to 40% contribution) was the main driver of LSWT variations from July to November, followed by air temperature. Spatially, LSWT intra-lake heterogeneity varied among lakes, with Siling Co showing the largest difference (nearly 4 °C) in autumn, mainly caused by river inflow locations and lake bathymetry. This study improves our understanding of the spatiotemporal variations of LWST for high-mountain lakes, providing insights for climate-change adaptation and water resources management.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01083-z |
| spellingShingle | Bingqing Du Jing Zhou Deliang Chen Hu Liu Baoyan Liu Ruishun Liu Lei Wang Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| title | Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Importance of fluvial inflows in the intra-lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | importance of fluvial inflows in the intra lake heterogeneity of surface water temperatures on the tibetan plateau |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01083-z |
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