Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau
<p>The Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings have recently experienced several catastrophic glacier-related disasters. It is of great scientific and practical significance to establish ground-based early warning systems (EWSs) to understand the processes and mechanisms of glacial disasters and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/3015/2023/nhess-23-3015-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797690159514255360 |
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| author | W. Yang Z. Wang B. An B. An Y. Chen C. Zhao C. Zhao C. Li Y. Wang W. Wang J. Li G. Wu L. Bai F. Zhang T. Yao |
| author_facet | W. Yang Z. Wang B. An B. An Y. Chen C. Zhao C. Zhao C. Li Y. Wang W. Wang J. Li G. Wu L. Bai F. Zhang T. Yao |
| author_sort | W. Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>The Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings have recently experienced several catastrophic glacier-related disasters. It is of great scientific and practical significance to establish ground-based early warning systems (EWSs) to understand the processes and mechanisms of glacial disasters and warn against potential threats to downstream settlements and infrastructure. However, there are few sophisticated EWSs on the Tibetan Plateau. With the support of the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STPSER), an EWS was developed and
implemented in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, where
repeated river blockages have occurred due to ice/rock collapse debris flow.
The EWS collected datasets of optical/thermal videos/photos, geophone
waveforms, water levels, and meteorological variables in this sparsely
populated zone. It has successfully warned against three ice-rock collapse–debris flow–river blockage chain events, and seven small-scale ice-rock collapse–debris flow events. Meanwhile, it was found that the low-cost geophone can effectively indicate the occurrence and magnitude of ice/rock collapses by local thresholds, and water level observation is an efficient way to warn of river blockages. Our observations showed that there were no immediate meteorological triggers for the ice-rock collapses and associated debris flows. Several factors, such as the volume and location of the collapses and the percentage of ice content involved, influence the velocities of debris flows and the magnitude of river blockages. There are still two possible glaciers in the study area that are at risk of ice collapse. It is worth monitoring their dynamic changes using high-resolution satellite data and the ground-based EWS to safeguard the surrounding hydrological projects and infrastructure in this transboundary region.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:56:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c1d28a3d7e51410e9290b41c042d9a1b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:56:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c1d28a3d7e51410e9290b41c042d9a1b2023-09-08T05:14:22ZengCopernicus PublicationsNatural Hazards and Earth System Sciences1561-86331684-99812023-09-01233015302910.5194/nhess-23-3015-2023Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan PlateauW. Yang0Z. Wang1B. An2B. An3Y. Chen4C. Zhao5C. Zhao6C. Li7Y. Wang8W. Wang9J. Li10G. Wu11L. Bai12F. Zhang13T. Yao14State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaSchool of Science, Tibet University, Lhasa 850011, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaCollege of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China<p>The Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings have recently experienced several catastrophic glacier-related disasters. It is of great scientific and practical significance to establish ground-based early warning systems (EWSs) to understand the processes and mechanisms of glacial disasters and warn against potential threats to downstream settlements and infrastructure. However, there are few sophisticated EWSs on the Tibetan Plateau. With the support of the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STPSER), an EWS was developed and implemented in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, where repeated river blockages have occurred due to ice/rock collapse debris flow. The EWS collected datasets of optical/thermal videos/photos, geophone waveforms, water levels, and meteorological variables in this sparsely populated zone. It has successfully warned against three ice-rock collapse–debris flow–river blockage chain events, and seven small-scale ice-rock collapse–debris flow events. Meanwhile, it was found that the low-cost geophone can effectively indicate the occurrence and magnitude of ice/rock collapses by local thresholds, and water level observation is an efficient way to warn of river blockages. Our observations showed that there were no immediate meteorological triggers for the ice-rock collapses and associated debris flows. Several factors, such as the volume and location of the collapses and the percentage of ice content involved, influence the velocities of debris flows and the magnitude of river blockages. There are still two possible glaciers in the study area that are at risk of ice collapse. It is worth monitoring their dynamic changes using high-resolution satellite data and the ground-based EWS to safeguard the surrounding hydrological projects and infrastructure in this transboundary region.</p>https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/3015/2023/nhess-23-3015-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | W. Yang Z. Wang B. An B. An Y. Chen C. Zhao C. Zhao C. Li Y. Wang W. Wang J. Li G. Wu L. Bai F. Zhang T. Yao Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| title | Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the Sedongpu Valley, southeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | early warning system for ice collapses and river blockages in the sedongpu valley southeastern tibetan plateau |
| url | https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/3015/2023/nhess-23-3015-2023.pdf |
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