Gaoyuan qixiang (Jun 2024)

Study on Water Level Evolution of Qinghai Lake and Its Influencing Factors

  • Mengxiao WANG,
  • Lijuan WEN

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2023.00092
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 43, no. 3
pp. 561 – 569

Abstract

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Qinghai Lake is not only the largest lake in China but also an important part of the national ecological security strategy.Under the background of global warming， the water level of Qinghai Lake changes rapidly， which has great effects on the surrounding traffic facilities， residents' safety and the development of animal husbandry， etc.Therefore， it is necessary to study the water level evolution characteristics of Qinghai Lake and its water balance under climate change.Based on the hydrological data of Buha River hydrology station and Xiashe hydrology station， meteorological data of Gangcha meteorological station and CMFD， and water balance equation， this paper first analyzes the inter-annual and intra-year water level evolution characteristics of Qinghai Lake from 1956 to 2020， and the water balance components， such as runoff into the lake （Rs）， precipitation （P） and evaporation （E）.The second reveals that the changes in water level values calculated in the same months are synchronized with the changes in Rs， P， and E.Finally， the ridge regression method is employed to quantitatively calculate the contribution rates of Rs， P， and E to the water level change of Qinghai Lake based on calculations made for December.The results show that the annual average water level declined at a rate of 0.8 m·（10a）-1 from 1956 to 2004， of which the main reason for the decrease between 1979 and 2004 was that E exceeded the sum of P and Rs.However， from 2004 to 2020， the water level increased at a rate of 1.9 m·（10a）-1， of which the main reason for the increase between 2004 and 2018 was the increase of P and Rs.Qinghai Lake exhibits evident intra-annual variations， with the water level starting to rise in May and reaching its peak in September， which aligns with the monthly variations of Rs， P， and E.Furthermore， the impact of the current year's P， Rs， and E changes on the annual water level change for the same months of September to December is greater than that of the previous year.Specifically， the contributions of the current year's P， Rs， and E changes to the water level change calculated based on December data are 10%， 70%， and 20%， respectively.

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