Research in Cold and Arid Regions最新文献

{"title":"High-resolution assessment of retrogressive thaw slump susceptibility in the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor","authors":"GuoAn Yin ,&nbsp;Jing Luo ,&nbsp;FuJun Niu ,&nbsp;MingHao Liu ,&nbsp;ZeYong Gao ,&nbsp;TianChun Dong ,&nbsp;WeiHeng Ni","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under the rapidly warming climate in the Arctic and high mountain areas, permafrost is thawing, leading to various hazards at a global scale. One common permafrost hazard termed retrogressive thaw slump (RTS) occurs extensively in ice-rich permafrost areas. Understanding the spatial and temporal distributive features of RTSs in a changing climate is crucial to assessing the damage to infrastructure and decision-making. To this end, we used a machine learning-based model to investigate the environmental factors that could lead to RTS occurrence and create a susceptibility map for RTS along the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) at a local scale. The results indicate that extreme summer climate events (<em>e.g</em>., maximum air temperature and rainfall) contributes the most to the RTS occurrence over the flat areas with fine-grained soils. The model predicts that 13% (ca. 22,948 km²) of the QTEC falls into high to very high susceptibility categories under the current climate over the permafrost areas with mean annual ground temperature at 10 m depth ranging from −3 to −1 °C. This study provides insights into the impacts of permafrost thaw on the stability of landscape, carbon stock, and infrastructure, and the results are of value for engineering planning and maintenance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 6","pages":"Pages 288-294"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138613815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation on the properties of compacted silty clay subjected to electro-osmosis using bender element","authors":"KangWei Tang ,&nbsp;Chuang Lin ,&nbsp;Hao Wang ,&nbsp;WeiJun Qin ,&nbsp;DeCheng Feng ,&nbsp;Feng Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The moisture content of subgrade soil in seasonally frozen regions is often higher than its optimum value, leading to a decline in mechanical properties and a reduction in subgrade bearing capacity. Electro-osmosis has shown promise as a technology for controlling subgrade moisture, but significant heterogeneity has also been observed in treated soil. This study investigates the impact of electro-osmosis on soil stiffness through a series of bender element tests of compacted clay. The effects of dry density and supply voltage on the performance of electro-osmosis treatment and the layered structure and anisotropy of the soil were analyzed. The results show that electro-osmosis treatment increased the shear wave velocity of the soil by 140% compared to untreated saturated soil and by 70% compared to soil with optimum water content. It has also been found that layered compaction of soil resulted in a layered structure, with electro-osmosis having a more prominent impact on soil near the cathode, resulting in a more pronounced layered structure. Besides, electro-osmosis was found to enhance soil anisotropy, particularly near the anode. Increasing the dry density and voltage levels can help improve soil uniformity. These findings provide insights into the potential use of electro-osmosis in improving soil stiffness, which could benefit various engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 6","pages":"Pages 253-261"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139305068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of surface heating on precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and its eastern margin","authors":"MaoShan Li ,&nbsp;YuChen Liu ,&nbsp;Zhao Lv ,&nbsp;YongHao Jiang ,&nbsp;Pei Xu ,&nbsp;YaoMing Ma ,&nbsp;FangLin Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high terrain of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has a very important impact on the weather and climate of China, East Asia, South Asia, and even the Northern Hemisphere. However, in recent years, the reasons for the decrease in precipitation in the southeastern edge of the plateau have resulted in cutting-edge research regarding the impact of the TP and its surrounding areas on downstream weather and climate. In this study, the spatial and temporal distribution of surface heat flux and precipitation were analyzed from 1998 to 2022, and the possible mechanism of the decrease of precipitation in the eastern edge of the plateau is explored. The main conclusions are as follows: The annual average sensible heat flux in the TP and its east side is positive, with an average of 33.73 W/m². The annual average latent heat flux is positive, with an average of 42.71 W/m². Precipitation has a similar annual average and seasonal distribution, with modest amounts in the northwest and substantial amounts in the southeast. The average annual accumulated precipitation is 670.69 mm. The first mode of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) shows that sensible heat flux decreases first, then increases, and then finally decreases during 1998–2022. The modes show the opposite trend in middle part of the plateau. The latent heat flux initially decreases, then increases, and finally decreases in the western plateau and near Sichuan Basin. The mode, however, displays the opposite tendency throughout the rest of the region. The precipitation in the north and south sides of the plateau has decreased since 2013, which is consistent with the changing trend of sensible heat flux. In the rest of the region, the change trend is not obvious. The sensible heat of the main body of the plateau and its east side and Sichuan Basin is negatively correlated with precipitation, that is, when sensible heat flux of the main body of the plateau and its east side and Sichuan Basin is more (less), local precipitation is less (more). The latent heat of the main body of the plateau and its east side, Sichuan Basin is positively correlated with precipitation, indicating that when latent heat flux of the main body of the plateau and its east side, Sichuan Basin is more (less), local precipitation is more (less).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 5","pages":"Pages 230-238"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139291924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Compounding effects of human activities and climatic changes on coexistence of oasis-desert ecosystems: Prioritizing resilient decision-making for a riskier world","authors":"XinWei Yin ,&nbsp;Wei Liu ,&nbsp;Meng Zhu ,&nbsp;JuTao Zhang ,&nbsp;Qi Feng ,&nbsp;HaiYang Xi ,&nbsp;LinShan Yang ,&nbsp;Tuo Han ,&nbsp;WenJu Cheng ,&nbsp;YingQing Su ,&nbsp;BaiTing Zhang ,&nbsp;YuanYuan Xue ,&nbsp;ZeXia Chen ,&nbsp;LingGe Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water-salt balance is critical for the stable coexistence of salt-affected and groundwater-fed oasis-desert ecosystems. Yet, a comprehensive investigation of how soil salinization and groundwater degradation threaten the coexistence of oasis-desert ecosystems is still scarce, especially under the compounding effects of human activities and climatic changes. Here, we assessed the impacts of irrigated agriculture on hydrological regimes in oasis-desert systems, investigated the spatio-temporal variations of soil salinization in irrigated cropland, and evaluated the implications of the interplays of soil salinization and groundwater degradation on the coexistence of oasis-desert ecosystems in northwestern China, based on meaningful modelling approaches and comprehensive measurements over 1995–2020. The results showed that the irrigation return flow coefficient decreased sharply from 0.21 ± 0.09 in the traditional irrigation period to 0.09 ± 0.01 in the water-saving irrigation period. The continuous drop in groundwater tables and significant degradation of groundwater quality are occurring throughout this watershed. The eco-environmental flows are reaching to their limit with watershed closures (<em>i.e.</em>, the drainage from the oasis region into the desert region is being weakened or even eliminated), although these progressions were largely hidden by regional precipitation and streamflow variability. The process of salt migration and accumulation across different landscapes in oasis-desert system is being reshaped, and soil salinization in water-saving agricultural irrigated lands is accelerating with a regional average annual growth rate of 18%. The vegetation in this watershed is degrading, and anthropogenic disturbance accelerates this trend. Our results highlight that environmental stress adaptation strategies must account for resilience maintenance to avoid accelerating catastrophic transitions in oasis-desert ecosystems. Determining the optimal oasis scales and formulating the best irrigation management plans are effective and resilient decision-making ways to maintain the coexistence relationship of oasis-desert ecosystem in drylands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 5","pages":"Pages 219-229"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143327079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mesoscale soil moisture survey by mobile cosmic-ray neutron sensor across various landscapes in the Heihe River Basin","authors":"ShaoXiong Wu ,&nbsp;YongYong Zhang ,&nbsp;WenRong Kang ,&nbsp;WenZhi Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2024.01.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2024.01.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The cosmic-ray neutron technology is a novel method for upscaling soil moisture, holding significant importance in drought monitoring, soil water storage estimation, calibration of remote sensing products, and data assimilation of land surface models. However, most studies conducted soil moisture measurement experiments using static Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors (CRNS) and are often limited to a single landscape, lacking in-situ measurement for the cosmic-ray neutron rover across various landscapes. This study carried out soil moisture observation experiments using a cosmic-ray neutron rover in nine grassland plots, nine farmland plots, and nine desert plots of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China. The neutron counts displayed clear variations among different plots, and an equation could represent the relationship between neutron intensity and multiple variables near the ground. The parameter <span><math><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></mrow></math></span> was the smallest for grassland and greatest for desert, and there was a significant negative correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and <span><math><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></mrow></math></span> (<em>P</em> &lt;0.05). Furthermore, the performance of CRNS notably improved after considering soil lattice water and soil organic matter. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the measured and oven-dried soil moisture increased with radius. Soil moisture measured by CRNS strongly supported the 100 m diameter footprint assumption (RMSE &lt;0.044 g/g). The study offers valuable insights into the application and promotion of cosmic-ray neutron technology across various landscapes within a basin.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 5","pages":"Pages 211-218"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139455912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Establishment of an astronomical time scale for the Shizigou Formation in the Qaidam Basin, Inner Asia and orbital forced evolution of lakes during The Pliocene","authors":"DunZhu JiaoBa ,&nbsp;MingZhen Zhang ,&nbsp;GuoLong Liu ,&nbsp;JianGuo Hui ,&nbsp;ShaoHua Lin ,&nbsp;AiJing Li ,&nbsp;Jing Zhang ,&nbsp;Jing Peng ,&nbsp;YiQiao Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2024.01.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2024.01.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Qaidam Basin, as the largest inland basin within the Tibetan Plateau, has accumulated more than 10,000 m of Cenozoic continental sediments. It serves as a crucial research area for documenting Cenozoic climate changes and plateau uplift processes in the Asian interior. Additionally, the basin holds vast reserves of oil and gas resources, making high-resolution drilling data invaluable for studying paleoclimate. In this study, the long-sequence lacustrine deposits of JS1 drill core across the Shizigou Formation in the Yiliping Depression at the western center of the basin were studied, aiming to establish an astronomical timescale for the Shizigou Formation and investigate the characteristics of paleoclimatic changes during the late Miocene to the Pliocene for the Asian interior. The analysis was carried out using high-resolution natural gamma ray (GR) data sequences, employing techniques such as spectral analysis, filtering, and wavelet analysis in cyclostratigraphy. The results indicated the presence of a stable Milankovitch orbital signal was perfectly recorded in the Shizigou Formation, primarily influenced by eccentricity cycles, with weaker obliquity and precession cycles. Using the stable and continuous 405 ka eccentricity cycle in astronomical tuning, a \"floating\" astronomical timescale with a duration of 6.1 Ma for the Yiliping depression's Shizigou Formation has been established. With reference to previously established stratigraphic age anchor points, an absolute astronomical timescale (2.5–8.6 Ma) has been ultimately provided for the Shizigou Formation. Simultaneously, a clear 100 ka short eccentricity cycle record has been identified during the Pliocene (5.3–2.5 Ma), which corresponds in time with the aridification within the basin during this Pliocene period. In addition, a comparison of the Pliocene natural gamma ray curve of the Qaidam Basin with global ice volume variations indicated that the basin's aridification was influenced by global cooling, with eccentricity-modulated precession cycles controlling solar radiation and subsequently affecting the evolution of lakes in the arid region of Inner Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 5","pages":"Pages 239-252"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139817415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dissolved organic carbon fractionation in wet deposition and its potential impact on radiative forcing in the central Tibetan Plateau","authors":"ZhaoFu Hu ,&nbsp;ChaoLiu Li ,&nbsp;ShiChang Kang ,&nbsp;XiaoFei Li ,&nbsp;Chao Zhang ,&nbsp;Fangping Yan ,&nbsp;XiaoBo He ,&nbsp;PengFei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcar.2023.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As an important component of carbonaceous matters, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) can absorb and scatter the solar radiation at ultraviolet and blue wavelengths. The wet deposition process has great impact on the concentration and light absorption ability of precipitation DOC, affecting the climatic effect caused by DOC in the atmosphere. In this study, light absorption and fluorescence characteristics of precipitation DOC was investigated in the central Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results showed that the mean DOC concentration and mass absorption cross-section measured at 365 nm (MAC₃₆₅) in Tanggula (TGL) station were 0.59 ± 0.42 mg/L and 0.37 ± 0.19 m²/g, respectively, while both values showed much higher volatilities than those of aerosols. DOC concentrations had significant negative correlation with the precipitation amount, while MAC₃₆₅ values increase with the precipitation amount in TGL station. Therefore, DOC with high light-absorbing ability was preferred to be retained in the atmosphere during wet deposition. In this study, precipitation DOC contained three fluorescent components (one humic-like component and two tyrosine-like components) mainly from local biomass burning sources. DOC concentration showed a negative relationship with MAC₃₆₅ value in TGL station. The wet deposition of DOC with low light-absorbing ability can reduce the strong negative radiative forcing caused by secondary organic aerosol due to high proportion of DOC in secondary organic carbon. Similar phenomenon was also found in Nam Co, Lulang and Everest stations of previous study, which may have a potential impact on radiative forcing in the atmosphere of TP.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 4","pages":"Pages 171-178"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2097158323000630/pdfft?md5=5e9a65ba6f7fec633d062ccb3c0000cf&pid=1-s2.0-S2097158323000630-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139033977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stability of loess high-fill slope based on monitored soil moisture changes","authors":"XueLing Yong ,&nbsp;Yu Zhang ,&nbsp;YunLong Hou ,&nbsp;BingBing Han ,&nbsp;Ning An ,&nbsp;Hui Zhang ,&nbsp;Ying Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper aims to assess the influence of moisture content changes during rainfall on the stability of loess high-fill slopes by taking a loess high-fill slope in Lanzhou City as an example. First, according to the moisture content monitoring data collected from a slope online monitoring system, direct shear tests were performed on soil samples of different moisture content to determine the relationship between the shear strength parameters and moisture content. Next, a coupled hydro-mechanical model with soil shear strength related to moisture content was established and used to analyze 16 working conditions with various rainfall intensities and durations for two cases: shear strength parameters from the site exploration report and those from this study. Finally, the results from the two cases were compared regarding the changes in stresses and displacements after rainfall infiltration to analyze the influence of moisture content on the stability of loess high-fill slopes. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Segmental relationship equations of cohesion and angle of internal friction were established for loess with various moisture content. (2) Under the conditions of different rainfall intensities, significant differences were observed in the trends of slope stress and displacement changes. (3) The slope displacement occurred in the shallow soil layer within about 12.5 m from the slope top, and the plastic strain concentrated in the soil layer within about 6 m from the slope top. (4) The results of slope stability analyses based on moisture content monitoring data are more in line with the observed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 4","pages":"Pages 191-201"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2097158323000605/pdfft?md5=2a5ba9a72e0f46d6c78d66bb58ed91fe&pid=1-s2.0-S2097158323000605-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135410495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of relative compaction and degree of saturation on the deformation characteristics of bentonite under freeze-thaw cycles","authors":"Hao Wang ,&nbsp;Xu Li ,&nbsp;WenShao Xin ,&nbsp;Vladimir Nikolaevich Paramonov ,&nbsp;XueWen Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.05.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Bentonite, consisting of clay minerals of the montmorillonite group, has been widely used as an adsorbent and backfill material in nuclear waste disposal and groundwater remediation. It is challenging to use bentonite as a filling material in cold regions since bentonite is highly sensitive to thermal environmental changes, during which its bulk volume and microstructure change significantly. In this study, a series of one-dimensional and three-dimensional freeze-thaw tests were carried out within a closed system to investigate the influencing factors of the deformation of bentonite under freeze-thaw cycles. Results show that the initial soil water content greatly impacts bentonite's deformation during freeze-thaw cycles. For an initial higher degree of saturation (<em>S</em>_r), the expansion caused by the formation of ice lenses has a greater impact than the shrinkage induced by dehydration, ice-cementation, and so on. Conversely, bentonite tends to shrink at a lower degree of saturation during freezing. And the critical degree of saturation that determines bentonite's behavior of frost heave or frost shrinkage seems to be roughly 0.8. As the number of freeze-thaw cycles rises, initially uncompacted bentonite clay becomes more compacted, and initially compacted bentonite clay remains unchanged.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 4","pages":"Pages 161-170"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2097158323000587/pdfft?md5=8ed434f7d5f82c7488cb7f5df1c03142&pid=1-s2.0-S2097158323000587-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135762625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extracting water body data based on SDWI and threshold segmentation: A case study in permafrost area surrounding Salt Lake in Hoh Xil, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China","authors":"QingSong Du ,&nbsp;GuoYu Li ,&nbsp;Dun Chen ,&nbsp;ShunShun Qi ,&nbsp;Yu Zhou ,&nbsp;Fei Wang ,&nbsp;YaPeng Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcar.2023.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There are a large number of lakes, rivers, and other natural water bodies distributed in the permafrost area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The changes in water bodies will affect the distribution of water resources in surrounding areas and downstream areas, resulting in environmental impact and bringing potential flood disasters, which will induce more serious issues and problems in alpine and high-altitude areas with a fragile habitat (such as the QTP in China). Generally, effective, reasonable, and scientific monitoring of large-scale water bodies can not only document the changes in water bodies intuitively, but also provide important theoretical reference for subsequent environmental impact prediction, and disaster prevention and mitigation in due course of time. The large-scale water extraction technology derived from the optical remote sensing (RS) image is seriously affected by clouds, bringing about large differences among the extracted water result products. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) RS technology has the unique advantage characteristics of all-weather, all-day, strong penetration, and not being affected by clouds, which is hopeful in extracting water body data, especially for days with cloudy weather. The data extraction of large-scale water bodies based on SAR images can effectively avoid the errors caused by clouds that become prevalent at present. In this paper, the Hoh Xil Salt Lake on the QTP and its surrounding five lakes are taken as the research objects. The 2-scene Sentinel-1 SAR image data covering the whole area on 22 August 2022 was used to verify the feasibility of extracting water body data in permafrost zones. Furthermore, on 22 August 2022, the wealth here was cloudy, which made the optical RS images, <em>e.g.</em>, Sentinel-2 images full of clouds. The results show that: using the Sentinel-1 image and threshold segmentation method to extract water body data is efficient and effective with excellent results in permafrost areas. Concretely, the Sentinel-1 dual-polarized water index (SDWI), calculated by combining dual vertical–vertical (VV) polarized and vertical–horizontal (VH) polarized data is a useful index for water extraction and the result is better than each of the VV or VH polarized images.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53163,"journal":{"name":"Research in Cold and Arid Regions","volume":"15 4","pages":"Pages 202-209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2097158323000460/pdfft?md5=ac8b36a39ca0385d9504dbfdbc46ea12&pid=1-s2.0-S2097158323000460-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46496715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}