Browsing by Author "Cheng, Yung-Sheng"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Decline of Geladandong Glacier Elevation in Yangtze River's Source Region: Detection by ICESat and Assessment by Hydroclimatic Data
(2017-01-01)
Chao, Nengfang
;
Wang, Zhengtao
;
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Jin, Taoyong
;
Cheng, Yung-Sheng
Several studies have indicated that glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are thinning, resulting in reduced water supplies to major rivers such as the Yangtze, Yellow, Lancang, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra in China, and south Asia. Three rivers in the upstream of Yangtze River originate from glaciers around the Geladandong snow mountain group in central Tibet. Here we used elevation observations from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and reference elevations from a 3-arc-second digital elevation model (DEM) of Shuttle Radar Terrestrial Mission (SRTM), assisted with Landsat-7 images, to detect glacier elevation changes in the western (A), central (B), and eastern (C) regions of Geladandong. Robust fitting was used to determine rates of glacier elevation changes in regions with dense ICESat data, whereas a new method called rate averaging was employed to find rates in regions of low data density. The rate of elevation change was -0.158 +/- 0.066 ma(-1) over 2003-2009 in the entire Geladandong and it was -0.176 +/- 0.102 ma(-1) over 2003-2008 in Region C (by robust fitting). The rates in Regions A, B, and C were -0.418 +/- 0.322 ma(-1) (2000-2009), -0.432 +/- 0.020 ma(-1) (2000-2003), and -0.321 +/- 0.139 ma(-1) (2000-2008) (by rate averaging). We used in situ hydroclimatic dataset to assess these negative rates: the glacier thinning was caused by temperature rises around Geladandong, based on the temperature records over 1979-2009, 1957-2013, and 1966-2013 at stations Tuotuohe, Wudaoliang, and Anduo. The thinning Geladandong glaciers led to increased discharges recorded at the river gauge stations Tuotuohe and Chumda over 1956-2012. An unabated Geladandong glacier melting will reduce its long-term water supply to the Yangtze River Basin, causing irreversible socioeconomic consequences and seriously degrading the ecological system of the Yangtze River Basin.
Decline of Geladandong Glacier Elevation in Yangtze River\'s Source Region: Detection by ICESat and Assessment by Hydroclimatic Data
(2017-01)
Chao, Nengfang
;
Wang, Zhengtao
;
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Jin, Taoyong
;
Cheng, Yung-Sheng
Several studies have indicated that glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are thinning, resulting in reduced water supplies to major rivers such as the Yangtze, Yellow, Lancang, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra in China, and south Asia. Three rivers in the upstream of Yangtze River originate from glaciers around the Geladandong snow mountain group in central Tibet. Here we used elevation observations from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and reference elevations from a 3-arc-second digital elevation model (DEM) of Shuttle Radar Terrestrial Mission (SRTM), assisted with Landsat-7 images, to detect glacier elevation changes in the western (A), central (B), and eastern (C) regions of Geladandong. Robust fitting was used to determine rates of glacier elevation changes in regions with dense ICESat data, whereas a new method called rate averaging was employed to find rates in regions of low data density. The rate of elevation change was -0.158 +/- 0.066 ma(-1) over 2003-2009 in the entire Geladandong and it was -0.176 +/- 0.102 ma(-1) over 2003-2008 in Region C (by robust fitting). The rates in Regions A, B, and C were -0.418 +/- 0.322 ma(-1) (2000-2009), -0.432 +/- 0.020 ma(-1) (2000-2003), and -0.321 +/- 0.139 ma(-1) (2000-2008) (by rate averaging). We used in situ hydroclimatic dataset to assess these negative rates: the glacier thinning was caused by temperature rises around Geladandong, based on the temperature records over 1979-2009, 1957-2013, and 1966-2013 at stations Tuotuohe, Wudaoliang, and Anduo. The thinning Geladandong glaciers led to increased discharges recorded at the river gauge stations Tuotuohe and Chumda over 1956-2012. An unabated Geladandong glacier melting will reduce its long-term water supply to the Yangtze River Basin, causing irreversible socioeconomic consequences and seriously degrading the ecological system of the Yangtze River Basin.
High-resolution depth and coastline over major atolls of South China Sea from satellite altimetry and imagery
(2016-04)
Hsiao, Yu-Shen
;
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Cheng, Yung-Sheng
;
Chen, Liang-Chien
;
Hsu, Hung-Jui
Current bathymetric models for the South China Sea (SCS) are largely based on predicted depths from gravity and sparse single-beam echo-sounder measurements. Such models lack high-resolution coastlines and shallow water bottom features around atolls and islands. This study refines the gravity field of the SCS using sea surface heights from measurements of satellite altimeter Geosat/GM, ERS-1/GM, Jason-1/GM and the original Cryosat-2. A new one-minute gravity anomaly grid is determined. The modeled gravity anomalies show a 6-mgal RMS discrepancy with shipborne measurements in shallow waters. An altimeter-only bathymetric model is derived from the new gravity grid by the gravity-geological method that uses the latest global and regional models of the ocean depth and marine gravity as a priori knowledge. The new model outperforms current SCS bathymetric models and is accurate to 100 m, based on comparison with multi-beam depth measurements. Optical images from IKONOS-2, QuickBird-2, GeoEye-1, WorldView-1-2 and -3, are rectified and digitized to derive the zero (coastline) and 20-m depth contours (reef lines) around 44 atolls, which are integrated with the altimeter-only depths, giving significantly improved accuracies and spatial resolutions in modeled depths. The improvement percentages of coastlines by the satellite imagery range from 50% to 97% at 41 of the 44 atolls. We establish a webpage for free access to the optical and depth images, and the depth and gravity grids. We will continue to update satellite images, altimeter-derived gravity grids and bathymetric models over major atolls of the SCS. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Lake level changes in the Tibetan Plateau from Cryosat-2, SARAL, ICESat, and Jason-2 altimeters
(2019-02-01)
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Cheng, Yung-Sheng
;
Yang, Wan-Hsin
;
Zhang, Guoqing
;
Huang, Yong-Ruei
Lake level change in the Tibetan Plateau is an important indicator for regional and global climate changes. We use altimeter data from Cryosat-2, SARAL, ICESat, and Jason-2 to detect lake level changes at different spatial and temporal resolutions over 2003 - 2017 (Jason-3 data in 2017 for validation). Cryosat-2's SARIn mode provides precise water level time series over 59 lakes. SARAL's waveforms are retracked to generate near monthly, high-quality measurements at 31 lakes. Jason-2 provides a reference for removing inter-altimeter biases, enabling coherent records over lakes with Jason-2 passes. After a decade of rise since the ICESat record of 2003, the lake levels of Nam Co, Selin Co, Ngangzi Co, and Chibuzhang Co became flat in 2014 - 2016 and started to fluctuate or decline after 2016. Such positive-flat-negative trends are consistent with the trend variations of mass change from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). SARAL detected persistent lake level declines over 2013 - 2016 in southern Tibet that may signify the onset of decadal reduced flows of the Yarlung Tsangpo and Brahmaputra River that could affect the water supply for their downstream regions in India and Bangladesh. Cryosat-2 and Jason-2 detected sudden lake level rises and falls around Zhuonai, Kusai, and Salt Lake associated with a 2011 lake outburst, which is confirmed by lake volume changes from two Landsat-7 images. With a careful processing and calibration, multiple altimeters allow for determining and cross-validating long-term and episodic lake level changes unachievable by a single altimeter.
Multi-Decadal Monitoring of Lake Level Changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by the TOPEX/Poseidon-Family Altimeters: Climate Implication
(2016-06-01)
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Cheng, Yung-Sheng
;
Han, Jiancheng
;
Kao, Ricky
;
Huang, Chi-Yun
Lake levels in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) provide valuable records for climate change studies. We use two decades of measurements (January 1993-December 2014) from the TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P)-family satellite altimeters (T/P, Jason-1 and -2) to detect lake level variations at 23 lakes along their repeat ground tracks every 10 days. We employ an optimal processing technique to obtain quality measurements, including outlier detection, averaging and filtering. The lake level accuracies are improved by subwaveform retracking. Jason-1 delivers few measurements after waveform retracking and a cluster classification at most lakes. From January 1993 to December 2014, most lake levels in eastern Tibet rose, while those in western Tibet declined. In Qinghai, lake levels dropped before 2005 and then rose afterwards, coinciding with the measure in 2005 that protects the Qinghai ecosystem (e.g., grassland conservation). The overall pattern of lake level change in the QTP is largely affected by monsoons and lake locations. Most lake levels show clear annual and inter-annual oscillations. Certain lakes show alternating level highs and lows in the same seasons and varying amplitudes of annual oscillations due to lake level changes. We detect a sudden rise of lake level by 7 m caused by floods, varying lake level trends associated with the 199798 El Nino and other factors, and persistently rising and declining lake levels associated with the long-term precipitation trends in the QTP. The T/P-family satellites will continue to monitor lake levels here as long as the sea level monitoring program lasts, collecting a long-term climate record at highlands echoing sea level change.
Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China
(2016-06-21)
Hwang, Cheinway
;
Yang, Yuande
;
Kao, Ricky
;
Han, Jiancheng
;
Shum, C. K.
Contemporary applications of radar altimetry include sea-level rise, ocean circulation, marine gravity, and icesheet elevation change. Unlike InSAR and GNSS, which are widely used to map surface deformation, altimetry is neither reliant on highly temporally-correlated ground features nor as limited by the available spatial coverage, and can provide long-term temporal subsidence monitoring capability. Here we use multi-mission radar altimetry with an approximately 23 year data-span to quantify land subsidence in cropland areas. Subsidence rates from TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, ENVISAT, and JASON-2 during 1992-2015 show time-varying trends with respect to displacement over time in California's San Joaquin Valley and central Taiwan, possibly related to changes in land use, climatic conditions (drought) and regulatory measures affecting groundwater use. Near Hanford, California, subsidence rates reach 18 cm yr(-1) with a cumulative subsidence of 206 cm, which potentially could adversely affect operations of the planned California High-Speed Rail. The maximum subsidence rate in central Taiwan is 8 cm yr(-1). Radar altimetry also reveals time-varying subsidence in the North China Plain consistent with the declines of groundwater storage and existing water infrastructure detected by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, with rates reaching 20 cm yr(-1) and cumulative subsidence as much as 155 cm.