Quantification of spatial temporal variability of snow cover and hydro-climatic variables based on multi-source remote sensing data in the Swat watershed, Hindukush Mountains, Pakistan
RIVER-BASIN
; MODIS DATA
; AIR TEMPERATURES
; TIBETAN PLATEAU
; TREND ANALYSIS
; CENTRAL-ASIA
; KARAKORAM
; PRODUCTS
; DYNAMICS
; PRECIPITATION
WOS学科分类:
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
WOS研究方向:
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
英文摘要:
The northern part of Hindukush Mountains has a perplexing environment due to the influence of adjacent mountains of Himalaya, Karakoram, and Tibetan Plateau. Although reliable evidences of climate change are available; however, a clear knowledge of snow cover dynamics in the context of climate change is missing for this region. In this study, we used various remotely sensed (TRMM precipitation product, while MODIS temperature and snow cover products) and gauge-based datasets to quantify the spatiotemporal variability of climatic variables and their turn effects over the snow cover area (SCA) and river discharge in the Swat watershed, northern Hindukush Mountains, Pakistan. The Mann-Kendall method and Sen's slope estimator were used to estimate the trends in SCA and hydro-climatic variables, at 5% significant level (P = 0.05). Results show that the winter and springs temperatures have increased (at the rate of 0.079 and 0.059 degrees C year(-1), respectively), while decreasing in the summer and autumn (at the rate of 0.049 and 0.070 degrees C year(-1), respectively). Basin-wide increasing tendency of precipitation was identified with a highest increasing rate of 3.563 mm year(-1) in the spring season. A decreasing trend in the winter SCA (at the rate of -0.275% year(-1)) and increasing trends in other seasons were identified. An increasing tendency of river discharge on annual and seasonal scales was also witnessed. The seasonal variations in discharge showed significant positive and negative relationships with temperature and SCA, respectively. We conclude that the future variations in the temperature and SCA in the higher altitudes of the Swat watershed could substantially affect the seasonality of the river discharge. Moreover, it implies that the effect of ongoing global warming on the SCA in the snowmelt-dominated river basins needs to be considered for sustainable regional planning and management of water resources, hydropower production, and downstream irrigation scheduling.
1.Chinese Acad Sci, Northwest Inst Ecoenvironm & Resources, Div Hydrol Water Land Resources Cold & Arid Reg, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Northwest Inst Ecoenvironm & Resources, State Key Lab Cryospher Sci, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, Peoples R China 3.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 4.South Univ Sci & Technol China, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China 5.Univ Engn & Technol, Ctr Excellence Water Resources Engn, Lahore 54890, Pakistan 6.Mehran Univ Engn & Technol, United States Pakistan Ctr Adv Studies Water, Jamshoro 76062, Sindh, Pakistan 7.Northeast Agr Univ, Sch Water Conservancy & Civil Engn, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation:
Anjum, Muhammad Naveed,Ding, Yongjian,Shangguan, Donghui,et al. Quantification of spatial temporal variability of snow cover and hydro-climatic variables based on multi-source remote sensing data in the Swat watershed, Hindukush Mountains, Pakistan[J]. METEOROLOGY AND ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS,2019-01-01,131(3):467-486