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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (5): 1460-1471.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2021.572

• Hydrology and Water Resources • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Runoff variation characteristics and influencing factors in the Heihe River Basin in the Qilian Mountains

LIANG Pengfei1,2(),XIN Huijuan1,LI Zongxing2(),ZHANG Baijuan3,GUI Juan3,DUAN Ran3,NAN Fusen3,DINGZENG Yangping4,YANG Shengmei4   

  1. 1. School of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    2. Observation and Research Station of Eco-Hydrology and National Park by Stable Isotope Tracing in Alpine Region/Gansu Qilian Mountains Ecology Research Center/Key Laboratory of Ecohydrology of Inland River Basin, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    4. Tibet Bureau of Hydrology and Water Resources Survey, Changdu 854000, Xizang, China
  • Received:2021-11-29 Revised:2021-12-28 Online:2022-09-25 Published:2022-10-20
  • Contact: Zongxing LI E-mail:liangpf0113@163.com;lizxhhs@163.com

Abstract:

Based on the data of runoff, meteorology, and types of land use, the characteristics of and contributors to runoff changes in the Heihe River of China were studied using elasticity coefficients and other methods. (1) The results show a trend of increasing runoff, with significant acceleration after 1990 and which was most obvious in the Heihe River, specifically at Yingluoxia station. Here the rate of increase in runoff from 1957 to 1990 was 0.75×108 m3·(10a)-1, whereas the rate of increase from 1991 to 2020 was 2.60×108 m3·(10a)-1, the latter being 3.47 times higher than the former. This increase in runoff mainly occurred in summer and autumn, with increases of 7.07% and 26.58%, respectively, compared with the pre-1990 period in the Heihe River Basin. (2) The effects of climate change on runoff were most acute in summer, with precipitation being the main climatic factor contributing to increased runoff. A 1.000% increase in summer precipitation was associated with a 0.741% average increase in runoff over the same period (P<0.01). (3) The relative increases in arable land and construction land area in 2020 compared with 1980 in the Heihe River Basin were 24.20% and 71.43%, respectively; the relative decreases in grassland and unused land area were 1.30% and 5.28%, respectively. The area of forested land, area of construction land, and runoff are positively correlated, whereas the area of grassland is negatively correlated with runoff. The results of this study can provide a reference for the rational allocation, scientific management, and subsequent implementation of ecological projects in the Heihe River Basin.

Key words: Heihe River Basin, runoff response, climate change, cryosphere, influencing factors