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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (2): 190-201.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.190

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Distinguishing climate- and human-driven water storage anomalies in the Yellow River Basin

YAO Di1(), ZHANG Ziwen2, HAN Weiwei1()   

  1. 1. Puyang Vocational and Technical College, Puyang 457000, Henan, China
    2. Guangzhou Jiaotong University, Guangzhou 510725, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2024-03-23 Revised:2024-07-24 Online:2025-02-25 Published:2025-02-25
  • Contact: HAN Weiwei E-mail:10011@pyvtc.edu.cn;10012@pyvtc.edu.cn

Abstract:

Clarifying the impacts of climate change and human activities on water storage changes in a basin is essential for effective water resource management and protection. Using a statistical model, we reconstructed climate-driven water storage anomalies (CWSA) from precipitation and temperature data at a 0.25° grid scale in the Yellow River Basin, China and isolated human-driven water storage anomalies (HWSA) from terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) derived from GRACE satellite data. The results reveal the following trends: (1) CWSA in the Yellow River Basin shows a significant upward trend, with an average increase of 3.6 mm·a-1, mainly due to increased rainfall. (2) HWSA in the basin shows a significant downward trend, with an average decrease of 8.9 mm·a-1, with higher decreases in the middle and lower reaches, likely driven by excessive groundwater extraction. (3) Correlation analysis indicates that TWSA in the upper Yellow River is primarily influenced by CWSA, while in the middle and lower reaches, it is mainly influenced by HWSA. This study separately quantifies the effects of climate change and human activities on water storage changes in the Yellow River Basin.

Key words: climate change, anthropogenic activities, water storage change reconstruction, water storage change separation