Monitoring and driving force analysis of spatial and temporal change of
water area of Hongjiannao lake from 1973 to 2019
Abstract
Hongjiannao lake is the largest desert fresh water lake in China and the
largest breeding and habitat of relict gulls in the world. On the basis
of remote sensing images, a high-precision long-time series lake area
continuous monitoring data set was constructed from 1973 to 2019. On
this basis, the temporal and spatial evolution law of lake area and the
coupling relationship with natural factors and human activities were
studied. At the same time, the effectiveness monitoring of protection
measures implemented since 2012 was realized. The results show that: (1)
from 1973 to 2019, the area of Hongjiannao lake experienced three stages
(relatively stable period (1973-1997) - shrinking period (1997-2015) -
expanding period (2015-2019)). (2) The shrinkage of Hongjiannao lake is
mainly caused by human factors, followed by natural factors. Among them,
human factors are mainly composed of the upstream river construction
reservoir, industrial development water and the increase of water demand
for vegetation growth. (3) For the first time, the preliminary results
of the protection measures implemented since 2012 are analyzed. It is
mainly reflected in the first positive growth of Hongjiannao Lake area
since the long-term shrinkage in 2016. This phenomenon is mainly caused
by measures such as artificial precipitation increase and ecological
water replenishment on the surface of upstream reservoir. Climate change
(high evaporation and low precipitation) and human activities (upstream
water conservancy project construction, coal mining, highway
construction around the lake, irrigation water consumption, etc.) are
the key factors leading to the change of lake water area in the
shrinking period. It is suggested that artificial precipitation increase
and surface ecological water supplement normalization should be carried
out in the study area, as well as scientific and reasonable utilization
of water resources in the basin to effectively restrain the shrinking of
Hongjiannao lake area, so as to achieve long-term sustainable
restoration of wetland ecology.