Author(s): Yucong He; Zhiwei Li
Linked Author(s): Zhiwei Li
Keywords: Climate change braided river remote sensing imagery
Abstract: This work presents the results of the basically completed study on the responses to climate change in the complexity and instability of braided rivers in central Asia, in and around Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, between 1990-2024, using Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery. Water bodies of 41 large braided river reaches (of 31 rivers) from 1990 to 2024 were extracted based on Google Earth Engine platform, and impacts of climate change on morphological indices and morphodynamic processes were quantified. The braided river complexity shows regional characteristics, complexity increase in the Three-River Source region (The eastern hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) while decrease in other parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. And the increase of complexity is mainly caused by the widen of braided channel. The variation of erosion and accretion intensity of rivers is mainly caused by the change of water and sediment yield and may also partly influenced by the change of riparian vegetation in its coverage and abundance.
Year: 2025