Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017
Turbidity is an important indicator of riverine conditions, especially in a fragile environment such as the Tibetan Plateau. Remote sensing, with the advantages of large-scale observations, has been widely applied to monitor turbidity change in lakes and rivers; however, few studies have focused on...
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/2/182 |
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| author | Ming Shen Siyuan Wang Yingkui Li Maofeng Tang Yuanxu Ma |
| author_facet | Ming Shen Siyuan Wang Yingkui Li Maofeng Tang Yuanxu Ma |
| author_sort | Ming Shen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Turbidity is an important indicator of riverine conditions, especially in a fragile environment such as the Tibetan Plateau. Remote sensing, with the advantages of large-scale observations, has been widely applied to monitor turbidity change in lakes and rivers; however, few studies have focused on turbidity change of rivers on the Tibetan Plateau. We investigated the pattern of turbidity change in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, southern Tibetan Plateau, based on multispectral satellite imagery and in situ measurements. We developed empirical models from in situ measured water leaving reflectance and turbidity, and applied the best performed s-curve models on satellite imagery from Sentinel-2, Landsat 8, and Landsat 5 to derive turbidity change in 2007–2017. Our results revealed an overall decreasing spatial trend from the upper to lower streams. Seasonal variations were observed with high turbidity from July to September and low turbidity from October to May. Annual turbidity showed a temporally slightly declining trend from 2007 to 2017. The pattern of turbidity change is affected by the confluence of tributaries and the changes in precipitation and vegetation along the river. These findings provide important insights into the responses of riverine turbidity to climate and environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:47:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55034fc272c54141b7db157996bd43b3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:47:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-55034fc272c54141b7db157996bd43b32023-12-03T12:20:20ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-01-0113218210.3390/rs13020182Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017Ming Shen0Siyuan Wang1Yingkui Li2Maofeng Tang3Yuanxu Ma4Department of Geography, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USAState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaDepartment of Geography, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USAKey Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaTurbidity is an important indicator of riverine conditions, especially in a fragile environment such as the Tibetan Plateau. Remote sensing, with the advantages of large-scale observations, has been widely applied to monitor turbidity change in lakes and rivers; however, few studies have focused on turbidity change of rivers on the Tibetan Plateau. We investigated the pattern of turbidity change in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, southern Tibetan Plateau, based on multispectral satellite imagery and in situ measurements. We developed empirical models from in situ measured water leaving reflectance and turbidity, and applied the best performed s-curve models on satellite imagery from Sentinel-2, Landsat 8, and Landsat 5 to derive turbidity change in 2007–2017. Our results revealed an overall decreasing spatial trend from the upper to lower streams. Seasonal variations were observed with high turbidity from July to September and low turbidity from October to May. Annual turbidity showed a temporally slightly declining trend from 2007 to 2017. The pattern of turbidity change is affected by the confluence of tributaries and the changes in precipitation and vegetation along the river. These findings provide important insights into the responses of riverine turbidity to climate and environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/2/182multispectral remote sensingturbidityYarlung Zangbo RiverS-curve modelspatial and temporal variations |
| spellingShingle | Ming Shen Siyuan Wang Yingkui Li Maofeng Tang Yuanxu Ma Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 Remote Sensing multispectral remote sensing turbidity Yarlung Zangbo River S-curve model spatial and temporal variations |
| title | Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 |
| title_full | Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 |
| title_fullStr | Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 |
| title_short | Pattern of Turbidity Change in the Middle Reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, from 2007 to 2017 |
| title_sort | pattern of turbidity change in the middle reaches of the yarlung zangbo river southern tibetan plateau from 2007 to 2017 |
| topic | multispectral remote sensing turbidity Yarlung Zangbo River S-curve model spatial and temporal variations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/2/182 |
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