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Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (11): 1816-1827.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.175

• The Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of flood change in alpine watershed on the northern slope of Kunlun Mountains

QIU Zewei1,2(), FANG Gonghuan1(), CHEN Yaning1, ZHU Chenggang1, LIANG Wenting1,2, DI Yanfeng1,2, LYU Haodong1,2   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2024-03-18 Revised:2024-06-11 Online:2024-11-25 Published:2024-12-03
  • Contact: FANG Gonghuan E-mail:qiuzewei22@mails.ucas.ac.cn;fanggh@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Flooding is one of the most devastating natural disasters, and under the influence of global warming, the magnitude and timing of floods in high-altitude mountain regions have experienced notable changes, significantly affecting human societies and ecosystems. This study employs the MissForest algorithm to impute daily discharge data for six mountain passes on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains, Xinjiang, China, analyzing trends in flood magnitude, timing, rise and recede durations for six source streams and mountain passes from 1961 to 2022, as well as the daily average annual maximum flood discharge. The key findings are as follows: (1) 97% of the annual maximum 1-day flow (AMF) events occur during the summer season. The AMF at Wuluwati and Tongguziluoke stations shows an increasing trend, while Pishan, Qira, Nunumaimaitilangan, and Qiemo stations exhibit a decreasing trend. Changes in AMF are statistically significant at all stations except Pishan and Wuluwati. The spring maximum 1-day flow (AMFSp) at all stations shows an increasing trend, with the most pronounced increases at Wuluwati, Tongguziluoke, and Nunumaimaitilangan stations. Regarding flood timing, the annual maximum 1-day flow date (AMFD) at five stations (excluding Pishan) exhibits an insignificant trend toward earlier occurrences. For the spring maximum 1-day flow date (AMFDSp), none of the six stations show a significant trend toward earlier timing. (2) Concerning the rise time of flooding, Tongguziluoke and Qiemo stations experienced an extension, while the other four stations showed a reduction. For the recede time of floods, Pishan and Qira stations have extended durations, whereas the other stations have shorter recede times, with no significant overall trend. The average daily discharge during the maximum flood has significantly increased at Pishan Station, significantly decreased at Nunumaimaitilangan and Qiemo stations, and has shown no significant change at the other stations. These findings are crucial for improving hydrological and ecological management, flood mitigation, disaster reduction, regional water management, and disaster risk assessment in arid regions.

Key words: MissForest, maximum 1-day flow, flood process, northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains