Using Multisource Satellite Data to Investigate Lake Area, Water Level, and Water Storage Changes of Terminal Lakes in Ungauged Regions

Lake area, water level, and water storage changes of terminal lakes are vital for regional water resource management and for understanding local hydrological processes. Nevertheless, due to the complex geographical conditions, it is difficult to investigate and analyze this change in ungauged regions. This study focuses on the ungauged, semi-arid Gahai Lake, a typical small terminal lake in the Qaidam Basin. In addition to the scant observed data, satellite altimetry is scarce for the excessively large fraction of outlier points. Here, we proposed an effective and simple algorithm for extracting available lake elevation points from CryoSat-2, ICESat-2 and Sentinel-3. Combining with the area data from Landsat, Gaofen (GF), and Ziyuan (ZY) satellites, we built an optimal hypsographic curve (lake area versus water level) based on the existing short-term data. Cross-validation was used to validate whether the curve accurately could predict the lake water level in other periods. In addition, we used multisource high-resolution images including Landsat and digital maps to extract the area data from 1975 to 2020, and we applied the curve to estimate the water level for the corresponding period. Additionally, we adopted the pyramidal frustum model (PFM) and the integral model (IM) to estimate the long-term water storage changes, and analyzed the differences between these two models. We found that there has been an obvious change in the area, water level, and water storage since the beginning of the 21st century, which reflects the impact of climate change and human activities on hydrologic processes in the basin. Importantly, agricultural activities have caused a rapid increase in water storage in the Gahai Lake over the past decade. We collected as much multisource satellite data as possible; thus, we estimated the long-term variations in the area, water level, and water storage of a small terminal lake combining multiple models, which can provide an effective method to monitor lake changes in ungauged basins.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the ungauged, semi-arid Gahai Lake in the Qaidam Basin, using satellite data to establish a hypsographic curve for lake area versus water level and estimate long-term water storage changes. The research reveals significant changes in the lake area, water level, and water storage since the beginning of the 21st century, largely attributed to climate change and human activities. The study provides an effective method for monitoring lake changes in ungauged basins by combining multiple models and satellite data.