Zhang et al. (2026) Long-Term Time-Series Dynamics of Lake Water Storage on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau via Multi-Source Remote Sensing and DEM-Based Underwater Bathymetry Reconstruction

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-09
• Authors: Xuteng Zhang, Ziyuan Xu, Changxian Qi, Dezhong Xu, Yao Chen, Han Peng
• DOI: 10.3390/rs18020225

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study proposes a DEM-based underwater topography extrapolation method to reconstruct 30-year absolute water storage time series for 120 lakes on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, revealing a significant cumulative increase of approximately 137.297 billion m³ (20.73%) in total lake water storage.

Objective

• To precisely quantify absolute water storage and reconstruct long-term, high-accuracy water storage time series for lakes on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, addressing limitations of conventional methods in data-scarce regions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 120 lakes larger than 50 km² on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.
• Temporal Scale: 30-year period.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: DEM-based underwater topography extrapolation method.
• Data sources: Nearshore Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, multi-source remote sensing observations of lake area and water level.

Main Results

• The proposed method shows strong agreement with independent validation data, achieving an overall correlation coefficient of 0.95.
• Reconstructed time series are highly reliable, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.6.
• Total lake water storage on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau exhibited a significant increasing trend over the study period.
• Cumulative growth in total water storage was approximately 137.297 billion m³.
• This represents a 20.73% increase in total water storage.
• The increase showed notable spatial heterogeneity.

Contributions

• Development of a novel DEM-based underwater topography extrapolation method suitable for data-scarce, topographically complex, high-altitude lake regions, overcoming limitations of conventional absolute water storage monitoring.
• Reconstruction of the first long-term (30-year), high-accuracy absolute water storage time series for 120 lakes on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.
• Provision of a reliable water storage dataset crucial for research on water cycles, climate change assessment, and regional water resource management.

Funding

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Zhang2026LongTerm,
  author = {Zhang, Xuteng and Xu, Ziyuan and Qi, Changxian and Xu, Dezhong and Chen, Yao and Peng, Han},
  title = {Long-Term Time-Series Dynamics of Lake Water Storage on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau via Multi-Source Remote Sensing and DEM-Based Underwater Bathymetry Reconstruction},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/rs18020225},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18020225}
}