Estimating surface temperature changes of lakes in the Tibetan Plateau using MODIS LST data

Temperature changes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) exhibit a dependence on altitude, as observed from meteorological station data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) data. However, little is known about the changes in water surface temperature (WST) of lakes in the TP under the warming climate conditions over the past few decades. In this study, lake WST was examined using a MODIS/Terra 8 day LST (nighttime) product (MOD11A2) over the period 2001–2012. It was found that 52 lakes included in the analysis of WST exhibited an average rate of change of 0.012 ± 0.033°C/yr. Of these 52 lakes, 31 lakes (60%) displayed a temperature increase with a mean warming rate of 0.055 ± 0.033°C/yr and 21 lakes (40%) displayed a temperature decrease with a mean cooling rate of −0.053 ± 0.038°C/yr. The rates of change in WST for 13 lakes were statistically significant, and these included nine warming and four cooling lakes. Of the 17 lakes with nearby weather stations, nine lakes (53%) showed faster warming than nearby air/land. The warming lakes could be attributed to locally rising air and land surface temperatures as well as other factors such as the decreased lake ice cover. The cooling lakes were mostly located at high elevations (>4200 m), and the trend could have been due to increased cold water discharge to the lakes from accelerated glacier/snow melts. Therefore, both warming and cooling lake temperatures in the TP were possibly the result of increased air temperatures (0.036 ± 0.027°C/yr) under global warming conditions.

[1]  Siyuan Wang,et al.  Climate warming and growth of high-elevation inland lakes on the Tibetan Plateau , 2009 .

[2]  Zhao-Liang Li,et al.  Validation of the land-surface temperature products retrieved from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data , 2002 .

[3]  R. Latifovic,et al.  Analysis of climate change impacts on lake ice phenology in Canada using the historical satellite data record , 2007 .

[4]  Min Min,et al.  Development of a 50-year daily surface solar radiation dataset over China , 2013, Science China Earth Sciences.

[5]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  Space observations of inland water bodies show rapid surface warming since 1985 , 2010 .

[6]  L. Thompson,et al.  Different glacier status with atmospheric circulations in Tibetan Plateau and surroundings , 2012 .

[7]  Massimo Menenti,et al.  CESat derived elevation changes of Tibetan lakes between 2003 and 2009 u , 2012 .

[8]  Robert E. Wolfe,et al.  Key characteristics of MODIS data products , 1998, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[9]  N. DiGirolamo,et al.  MODIS snow-cover products , 2002 .

[10]  Z. Wan,et al.  Preliminary estimate of calibration of the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer thermal infrared data using Lake Titicaca , 2002 .

[11]  Ni-Bin Chang,et al.  Assessing the long-term urban heat island in San Antonio, Texas based on moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer/Aqua data , 2010 .

[12]  Joan M. Galve,et al.  Temperature‐based and radiance‐based validations of the V5 MODIS land surface temperature product , 2009 .

[13]  Jun Qin,et al.  Can aerosol loading explain the solar dimming over the Tibetan Plateau? , 2012 .

[14]  Shaofeng Jia,et al.  Estimation of daily maximum and minimum air temperature using MODIS land surface temperature products , 2013 .

[15]  Xiao-dong Liu,et al.  Climatic warming in the Tibetan Plateau during recent decades , 2000 .

[16]  Xubin Zeng,et al.  Evaluation of multireanalysis products with in situ observations over the Tibetan Plateau , 2012 .

[17]  Volker Hochschild,et al.  Analysis of ice phenology of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau from MODIS data , 2012 .

[18]  Hongjie Xie,et al.  Water balance estimates of ten greatest lakes in China using ICESat and Landsat data , 2013 .

[19]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  Retrieval of Lake Bulk and Skin Temperatures Using Along-Track Scanning Radiometer ( ATSR-2 ) Data : A Case Study Using Lake Tahoe , 2002 .

[20]  Changqing Ke,et al.  Variability in the ice phenology of Nam Co Lake in central Tibet from scanning multichannel microwave radiometer and special sensor microwave/imager: 1978 to 2013 , 2013 .

[21]  Erik T. Crosman,et al.  MODIS-derived surface temperature of the Great Salt Lake , 2009 .

[22]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  A radiance‐based method for estimating uncertainties in the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) land surface temperature product , 2012 .

[23]  Joan M. Galve,et al.  Accuracy assessment of land surface temperature retrievals from MSG2-SEVIRI data , 2011 .

[24]  P. Jones,et al.  A MAINLAND CHINA HOMOgENIZED HISTORICAL TEMPERATURE DATASET Of 1951-2004 , 2009 .

[25]  Z. Wan.  New refinements and validation of the MODIS Land-Surface Temperature/Emissivity products , 2008 .

[26]  Rui Jin,et al.  Monitoring the frozen duration of Qinghai Lake using satellite passive microwave remote sensing low frequency data , 2009 .

[27]  Massimo Menenti,et al.  Geometric dependency of Tibetan lakes on glacial runoff , 2013 .

[28]  Jie He,et al.  Solar radiation trend across China in recent decades: a revisit with quality-controlled data , 2010 .

[29]  M. R. van den Broeke,et al.  A Reconciled Estimate of Glacier Contributions to Sea Level Rise: 2003 to 2009 , 2013, Science.

[30]  M. Huber,et al.  Lake Ice phenology of small lakes: Impacts of climate variability in the Great Lakes region , 2011 .

[31]  Z. Wan,et al.  Quality assessment and validation of the MODIS global land surface temperature , 2004 .

[32]  G. Cheng,et al.  Responses of permafrost to climate change and their environmental significance, Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau , 2007 .

[33]  Hongjie Xie,et al.  Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and in situ measurements under climate change , 2011 .

[34]  Joan M. Galve,et al.  Ground measurements for the validation of land surface temperatures derived from AATSR and MODIS data , 2005 .

[35]  Qingxiang Li,et al.  Urban heat island effect on annual mean temperature during the last 50 years in China , 2004 .

[36]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  Satellite observations indicate rapid warming trend for lakes in California and Nevada , 2009 .

[37]  Anu Reinart,et al.  Mapping surface temperature in large lakes with MODIS data , 2008 .

[38]  T. Yao,et al.  Recent Glacial Retreat and Its Impact on Hydrological Processes on the Tibetan Plateau, China, and Surrounding Regions , 2007 .

[39]  T. Bolch,et al.  A glacier inventory for the western Nyainqentanglha Range and the Nam Co Basin, Tibet, and glacier changes 1976-2009 , 2010 .

[40]  Zhenxi Shen,et al.  Estimating air temperature of an alpine meadow on the Northern Tibetan Plateau using MODIS land surface temperature , 2011 .

[41]  Thomas Foken,et al.  Response of hydrological cycle to recent climate changes in the Tibetan Plateau , 2011 .

[42]  E. Mosley‐Thompson,et al.  Recent warming as recorded in the Qinghai-Tibetan cryosphere , 1995, Annals of Glaciology.

[43]  David A. Seal,et al.  The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission , 2007 .

[44]  Bradley C. Reed,et al.  Integration of MODIS-derived metrics to assess interannual variability in snowpack, lake ice, and NDVI in southwest Alaska. , 2009 .

[45]  Hongjie Xie,et al.  Lakes’ state and abundance across the Tibetan Plateau , 2014 .

[46]  Kurtis J. Thome,et al.  Vicarious Radiometric Calibrations of EOS Sensors , 1996 .

[47]  H. Xie,et al.  Increased mass over the Tibetan Plateau: From lakes or glaciers? , 2013 .

[48]  Stephen F. Ackley,et al.  Monitoring lake level changes on the Tibetan Plateau using ICESat altimetry data (2003-2009) , 2011 .

[49]  Yongming Du,et al.  Evaluation of the VIIRS and MODIS LST products in an arid area of Northwest China , 2014 .

[50]  Klaus Fraedrich,et al.  Variability of temperature in the Tibetan Plateau based on homogenized surface stations and reanalysis data , 2013 .

[51]  T. Bolch,et al.  The State and Fate of Himalayan Glaciers , 2012, Science.

[52]  H. Xie,et al.  Snow cover dynamics of four lake basins over Tibetan Plateau using time series MODIS data (2001–2010) , 2012 .

[53]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  Optimized split-window coefficients for deriving surface temperatures from inland water bodies , 2011 .

[54]  T. Yao,et al.  Amplitude of climatic changes in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau , 2000 .

[55]  Shunlin Liang,et al.  The altitudinal dependence of recent rapid warming over the Tibetan Plateau , 2009 .

[56]  Wei Yang,et al.  Glacial distribution and mass balance in the Yarlung Zangbo River and its influence on lakes , 2010 .

[57]  F. Wang,et al.  Improved estimation of average warming trend of China from 1951–2010 based on satellite observed land-use data , 2013, Climatic Change.

[58]  Zhengming Wan,et al.  Evaluation and improvement of the MODIS land surface temperature/emissivity products using ground‐based measurements at a semi‐desert site on the western Tibetan Plateau , 2007 .

[59]  Bo Huang,et al.  Modeling and analysis of lake water storage changes on the Tibetan Plateau using multi-mission satellite data , 2013 .

[60]  Jeff Dozier,et al.  A generalized split-window algorithm for retrieving land-surface temperature from space , 1996, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[61]  Jay A. Austin,et al.  Lake Superior summer water temperatures are increasing more rapidly than regional air temperatures: A positive ice‐albedo feedback , 2007 .