Gupta Sharad Kumar, Shukla Dericks Praise
School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Room No. 008, Suvalsar Hostel (G4) IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India.
School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Room No. 201, A-4 building, IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2016 Dec;188(12):700. doi: 10.1007/s10661-016-5707-3. Epub 2016 Nov 30.
Wetlands accounts for 6% area of the Earth's land cover and nearly 17% of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. They are of utmost importance to climate dynamics and are critical links between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Despite the need of high attention towards conserving and managing wetland resources, mapping them is a least practiced activity. This study shows the temporal change in land use and land cover pattern of Tso Moriri Lake, the highest altitude lake in India and designated as Ramsar site in year 2002, using multi-sensor and multi-date imagery. Due to change in hydro-meteorological conditions of the region, this lake area has been reduced. Since the lake recharge is dependent on snowmelt, hence change in climatic conditions (less snowfall in winters), to a certain extent, is also responsible for the decrease in water level and water spread of the lake. The result shows that the lake area has reduced approximately 2 km in the last 15 years, and also, agriculture, grasslands, and vegetation cover have increased to a significant extent. Agricultural land and grasslands have doubled while the vegetation cover has increased more than six times, showing the coupled effect of climate change and anthropogenic activities. Trend of temperature and precipitation corroborates the effects of climate change in this region.
湿地占地球陆地覆盖面积的6%，在兴都库什喜马拉雅地区占近17%。它们对气候动态至关重要，是陆地和水生生态系统之间的关键纽带。尽管需要高度重视湿地资源的保护和管理，但对其进行测绘却是最少开展的活动。本研究利用多传感器和多日期影像，展示了印度海拔最高的湖泊措木昂里湖（2002年被指定为拉姆萨尔湿地）土地利用和土地覆盖格局的时间变化。由于该地区水文气象条件的变化，该湖泊面积有所减少。由于湖泊补给依赖融雪，因此气候条件的变化（冬季降雪减少）在一定程度上也导致了湖泊水位下降和水域面积缩小。结果表明，在过去15年里，该湖泊面积减少了约2平方公里，而且农业、草原和植被覆盖面积也有显著增加。农业用地和草原面积增加了一倍，而植被覆盖面积增加了六倍多，显示出气候变化和人类活动的耦合效应。气温和降水趋势证实了该地区气候变化的影响。
