Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River

Accurately understanding flood evolution and its attribution is crucial for watershed water resource management as well as disaster prevention and mitigation. The source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) has experienced several severe floods over the past few decades, but the driving factor influenc...

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Main Authors: Jie Wang, Donghui Shangguan, Yongjian Ding, Yaping Chang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/8/1342
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author Jie Wang
Donghui Shangguan
Yongjian Ding
Yaping Chang
author_facet Jie Wang
Donghui Shangguan
Yongjian Ding
Yaping Chang
author_sort Jie Wang
collection DOAJ
description Accurately understanding flood evolution and its attribution is crucial for watershed water resource management as well as disaster prevention and mitigation. The source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) has experienced several severe floods over the past few decades, but the driving factor influencing flood volume variation in the SRYR remains unclear. In this study, the Budyko framework was used to quantify the effects of climate change, vegetation growth, and permafrost degradation on flood volume variation in six basins of the SRYR. The results showed that the flood volume decreased before 2000 and increased after 2000, but the average value after 2000 remained lower than that before 2000. Flood volume is most sensitive to changes in precipitation, followed by changes in landscape in all basins. The decrease in flood volume was primarily influenced by changes in active layer thickness in permafrost-dominated basins, while it was mainly controlled by other landscape changes in non-permafrost-dominated basins. Meanwhile, the contributions of changes in potential evapotranspiration and water storage changes to the reduced flood volume were negative in all basins. Furthermore, the impact of vegetation growth on flood volume variation cannot be neglected due to its regulating role in the hydrological cycle. These findings can provide new insights into the evolution mechanism of floods in cryospheric basins and contribute to the development of strategies for flood control, disaster mitigation, and water resource management under a changing climate.
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spelling doaj-art-eaa479a69c104d6dad972d28f912629e2025-08-20T02:18:15ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-04-01178134210.3390/rs17081342Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow RiverJie Wang0Donghui Shangguan1Yongjian Ding2Yaping Chang3College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaTanggula Mountain Cryosphere and Environment Observation and Research Station of Tibet Autonomous Region, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaTanggula Mountain Cryosphere and Environment Observation and Research Station of Tibet Autonomous Region, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaTanggula Mountain Cryosphere and Environment Observation and Research Station of Tibet Autonomous Region, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaAccurately understanding flood evolution and its attribution is crucial for watershed water resource management as well as disaster prevention and mitigation. The source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) has experienced several severe floods over the past few decades, but the driving factor influencing flood volume variation in the SRYR remains unclear. In this study, the Budyko framework was used to quantify the effects of climate change, vegetation growth, and permafrost degradation on flood volume variation in six basins of the SRYR. The results showed that the flood volume decreased before 2000 and increased after 2000, but the average value after 2000 remained lower than that before 2000. Flood volume is most sensitive to changes in precipitation, followed by changes in landscape in all basins. The decrease in flood volume was primarily influenced by changes in active layer thickness in permafrost-dominated basins, while it was mainly controlled by other landscape changes in non-permafrost-dominated basins. Meanwhile, the contributions of changes in potential evapotranspiration and water storage changes to the reduced flood volume were negative in all basins. Furthermore, the impact of vegetation growth on flood volume variation cannot be neglected due to its regulating role in the hydrological cycle. These findings can provide new insights into the evolution mechanism of floods in cryospheric basins and contribute to the development of strategies for flood control, disaster mitigation, and water resource management under a changing climate.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/8/1342flood volumeclimate changepermafrost degradationvegetation growthsource region of the Yellow River
spellingShingle Jie Wang
Donghui Shangguan
Yongjian Ding
Yaping Chang
Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
Remote Sensing
flood volume
climate change
permafrost degradation
vegetation growth
source region of the Yellow River
title Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
title_full Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
title_fullStr Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
title_full_unstemmed Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
title_short Evolution and Attribution of Flood Volume in the Source Region of the Yellow River
title_sort evolution and attribution of flood volume in the source region of the yellow river
topic flood volume
climate change
permafrost degradation
vegetation growth
source region of the Yellow River
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/8/1342
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AT yongjianding evolutionandattributionoffloodvolumeinthesourceregionoftheyellowriver
AT yapingchang evolutionandattributionoffloodvolumeinthesourceregionoftheyellowriver