Integrated System Analysis to Understand the Implications of the Asian Monsoon System on the Tibetan Hydrology with Focus on Nam Co Basin (Tuebingen Group)

In frames of DFG Priority Programme (Schwerpunktprogramm) 1372

Tibetan Plateau: Formation - Climate - Ecosystems (TiP)

The objective of the project is better understanding of the driving forces controlling hydrological processes in the context of a changing climate and monsoon dynamic on the Tibetan Plateau and the identification of hydrological feedbacks to changing climate conditions by analysing and modelling its underlying spatially and temporally variable hydrological components and processes. This is achieved by the distributed hydrological modelling parametrized by remote sensing data. The modelling part is carried out by the Jena Group (http://www.geoinf.uni-jena.de/7026.0.html) while the Tuebingen group is in charge of the derivation of information from remote sensing data.

In the 1^st and 2^nd project phase the focus was on Nam Co Basin which is a representative example of a large endorheic system on the Tibetan Plateau. In the 3^rd phase the attention should be extended to endorheic lake basins following two transects across the Tibetan Plateau in order to understand regional variations in reaction of hydrological system to the changing climate conditions and to extend the understanding of the hydrological processes to the whole Tibetan Plateau.

Prof. Dr. Volker Hochschild
Dr. Jan Kropacek
Sebastian Hoerz
M.Sc. Gebhard Warth

• Water budget record from the oscillations of endorheic lakes
• Landcover mapping and mapping of wetlands
• Examination of the spatial and temporal patterns of the Snow cover
• Soil moisture
• Geomorphology

Hochschild, V., Kropacek, J., Biskop, S., Braun, A., Chen, F., Fink, M., Helmschrot, J., Kang, S., Krause, P., Leiterer, R., Ye, Q. & Flügel, W.A. (2011) Multisensoral Remote Sensing Based Modelling of the Water Balance of Endorheic Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. – Remote Sensing and Hydrology 2010, Proceedings of a Symposium held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, September 2010, IAHS Publ. 3XX (in press).

Kropacek, J., Braun, A., Kang, S., Feng, Ch., Ye, Q., Hochschild, V. (2011) Analysis of lake level changes of Nam Co in Central Tibet by synergy of satellite altimetry and evaluation of optical satellite imagery, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (accepted).

Kropacek, J., Feng, C., Alle, M., Kang, S., Hochschild, V. 2010, Temporal and Spatial Aspects of Snow Distribution in the Nam Co Basin on the Tibetan Plateau from MODIS Data, Remote Sensing, 2, 2700-2712.

http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/2/12/2700/

Kropacek, J., Hochschild, V.: Parametrization of integrated hydrological model of Nam Co lake catchment on Tibetan Plateau using synergy of SAR and optical data, 2009 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, July 12 – 17, Cape Town, South Africa.

Kropacek, J., Hochschild, V.: Synergy of remote sensing data for support of hydrological modeling in Nam Co basin on Tibetan Plateau, 5th International Symposium on Tibetan Plateau, 24th Himalaya-Karakorum-Tibet-Workshop, August 11-14, 2009, Beijing, China.

Kropacek, J., Ye, Q., Leiterer, R., Hochschild, V.: Multi-resolution synergy of optical, thermal and SAR data for mapping of wetlands and permafrost on Tibetan Plateau, Proceedings of ESA Conference.

Our project partner is the hydrology group at the FSU Jena

We have a fruitful exchange with our partners at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing (Prof Shichang Kang, Dr Qinghua Ye and Dr Feng Chen)

We closely cooperate with the TiP groups at the RWTH Aachen, TU Berlin and TU Dresden

We are part of the Atmosphere - Ecology - Glaciology Cluster in the DFG Priority Program 1372

http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/TiP-AEG/

Julian Schwilk: Glaziomorphologische Interpretation von Fernerkundungsdaten am Beispiel Nyenchen Thanglha Gebirge, Tibet, 2010

Gebhard Warth: Ableitung Hydrologisch relevanter Oberflächenrauigkeiten aus TerraSAR-X-Radardaten, 2010