Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (3): 358-372.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.03.03

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Temporal and spatial changes of evapotranspiration in the Shaliu River Basin of Qinghai Lake

KANG Ligang1,2(),CAO Shengkui1,2,3(),CAO Guangchao1,2,3,YANG Yufan4,YAN Li1,2,WANG Youcai1,2   

  1. 1. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Geography and Environmental Processes, College of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Land Surface Processes and Ecological Conservation, Ministry of Education, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China
    3. Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, People’s Government of Qinghai Province & Beijing Normal University, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China
    4. School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2022-04-22 Revised:2022-06-28 Online:2023-03-15 Published:2023-03-31

Abstract:

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the total flux of water vapor transported by vegetation and the ground as a whole to the atmosphere. As an important part of energy balance and water cycle, ET affects the growth and development of plants and regulates climate by influencing atmospheric circulation. Using MODIS image data combined with digital elevation model data and meteorological data, this work applied ArcGIS spatial analysis and mathematical statistics to study the temporal and spatial characteristics of ET in the Shaliu River Basin of Qinghai Lake in the past 20 years from 2000 to 2019. The correlation between ET and meteorological factors such as air temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity and its topographic effect was also explored. Results show that: (1) the annual average ET in the Shaliu River Basin of Qinghai Lake is between 379.7 and 575.4 mm, and the average ET is 501.9 mm. The overall trend of fluctuation increases significantly with the number of years (P<0.05), and the linear slope is 5.9 mm·a-1. (2) From a spatial perspective, the average ET in the Shaliu River Basin of Qinghai Lake has significant spatial differences and shows a distribution pattern of “high in the middle and low at both ends,” that is, the ET in the source area and the downstream estuary delta area is lower than that in the middle reaches. The order is as follows: alpine meadow belt > alpine cold desert belt > alpine grassland belt. The areas with a relatively significant increase in ET are mainly distributed in the estuary delta area in the lower reaches of the basin, accounting for 9.7% of the basin area. Meanwhile, the areas with a relatively slight increase occupy the main body of the basin, accounting for 81.2%. (3) The annual ET is related to the annual average temperature, and the annual precipitation is significantly positively correlated with the annual average relative humidity. Warming is the fundamental driving force for the increase in ET. (4) The annual ET showed an “increase-decrease-increase” trend with the increase in the slope, but the overall difference between the slopes is not evident. Except for the smallest plane ET in different slope aspects, the differences in annual ET among the other slope aspects are small. The annual ET increases sharply at first and then gradually with the altitude. The above results show that in the past 20 years, the warming and humidification of the climate in the Shaliu River Basin of Qinghai Lake has led to an increase in ET. However, the band increase is small.

Key words: MODIS, evapotranspiration, spatial and temporal variability, meteorology, topography, Qinghai Lake, Shaliu River Basin