Spatiotemporalwater yield variations and influencing factors in the Lhasa River Basin, Tibetan Plateau

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatiotemporalwater yield variations and influencing factors in the Lhasa River Basin, Tibetan Plateau

AU - Lu, Huiting

AU - Yan, Yan

AU - Zhu, Jieyuan

AU - Jin, Tiantian

AU - Liu, Guohua

AU - Wu, Gang

AU - Stringer, Lindsay C.

AU - Dallimer, Martin

N1 - © 2020 by the authors Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFC0502102), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Tibet Autonomous Region (Z2016C01G01108), and the China Scholarship Council (201904910498).

PY - 2020/5/23

Y1 - 2020/5/23

N2 - Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of water yield and its influencing factors is important for water resources management. In this study, we used the seasonal water yield model (SWYM) to assess the spatiotemporal water yield changes of the Lhasa River Basin from 1990 to 2015, and analyzed its influencing factors by focusing on precipitation, land cover, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) change. We first examined the model through Morris screening sensitivity analysis and validated it with the observed flow data. Spatiotemporal variation of three indices of water yield, baseflow, quick flow, and local recharge were then assessed. Results showed that from 1990 to 2015, the baseflow, local recharge, and quick flow decreased by 67.03%, 80.21%, and 37.03%, respectively. The spatial pattern of water yield remained mostly unchanged. According to the contribution analysis, precipitation and NDVI change were the main factors affecting water yield in the Lhasa River Basin, while land cover change began to exert greater influence after 2010. A combination of climate change and human activities therefore drive water yield change, especially through vegetation change. Water resources management strategies should thus take into account the combination of rapidly changing climate and human activities.

AB - Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of water yield and its influencing factors is important for water resources management. In this study, we used the seasonal water yield model (SWYM) to assess the spatiotemporal water yield changes of the Lhasa River Basin from 1990 to 2015, and analyzed its influencing factors by focusing on precipitation, land cover, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) change. We first examined the model through Morris screening sensitivity analysis and validated it with the observed flow data. Spatiotemporal variation of three indices of water yield, baseflow, quick flow, and local recharge were then assessed. Results showed that from 1990 to 2015, the baseflow, local recharge, and quick flow decreased by 67.03%, 80.21%, and 37.03%, respectively. The spatial pattern of water yield remained mostly unchanged. According to the contribution analysis, precipitation and NDVI change were the main factors affecting water yield in the Lhasa River Basin, while land cover change began to exert greater influence after 2010. A combination of climate change and human activities therefore drive water yield change, especially through vegetation change. Water resources management strategies should thus take into account the combination of rapidly changing climate and human activities.

KW - Baseflow

KW - Climate change

KW - Land cover

KW - Tibetan plateau

KW - Water yield

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085864531&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/w12051498

DO - 10.3390/w12051498

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85085864531

SN - 2073-4441

VL - 12

JO - Water (Switzerland)

JF - Water (Switzerland)

IS - 5

M1 - 1498

ER -