Article
Environmental Studies
Qian Qian, Junbang Wang, Xiujuan Zhang, Shaoqiang Wang, Yingnian Li, Qinxue Wang, Alan E. Watson, Xinquan Zhao
Summary: This paper assesses the possibility of achieving established targets for the proportion of cultivated to available grassland in the Three-River Headwaters Region in China. It finds that in order to reach income targets in 2025, 5% of grasslands need to be cultivated, but achieving income targets in 2035 will become very difficult.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mu Xia, Kun Jia, Wenwu Zhao, Shiliang Liu, Xiangqin Wei, Bing Wang
Summary: This study utilizes an Ecological Vulnerability Index (EVI) and 17 indicators to analyze the ecological vulnerability threats faced by the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau over the past 15 years, with results indicating vegetation as the primary driver of ecological vulnerability. Significant variations in ecological vulnerability trends were observed between Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wei Zhang, Jinglin Zhang
Summary: This study found that landscape metrics in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau show predictable responses to changes in spatial scales, with some metrics exhibiting linear or power law relationships. Environmental factors such as soil water content, temperature, organic carbon, and air temperature are significantly correlated with many landscape metrics. The correlations between these factors and landscape metrics follow an approximate parabolic pattern, peaking at flight heights of 40-60 meters.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lin Liu, Liming Jiang, Hansheng Wang, Yafei Sun
Summary: This study presents evidence of a glacier anomaly in the northwestern and central zone of the interior and northern Tibetan Plateau since the early 21st century, providing important insights for understanding the prevailing mechanism of this regional anomalous phenomenon.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Yu Liu, Di Wang, Zeng Cui, Shixiong Li, Runjie Li, Jesus Rodrigo-Comino, Manuel Lopez-Vicente, Gao-Lin Wu
Summary: Meadow patches are evidence of degradation caused by the fragmentation and disappearance of mattic epipedons. This study investigates how the loss of mattic epipedons affects soil erosion processes in alpine regions through simulated rainfall experiments. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining runoff and reducing sediment through the presence of mattic epipedons.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Aihua Hao, Hanchen Duan, Xufeng Wang, Quangang You, Fei Peng, Heqiang Du, Guohui Zhao, Feiyao Liu, Chengyang Li, Chimin Lai, Xian Xue
Summary: This study analyzed vegetation trends of alpine meadow and alpine steppe on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, investigating the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic disturbances. The results revealed significant influences of factors such as precipitation, solar radiation, and human footprint on vegetation greenness or browning in different time frames. Over the past decades, vegetation dynamics in alpine meadow and alpine steppe ecosystems have been shaped by a combination of complex factors.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Licong Dai, Ruiyu Fu, Xiaowei Guo, Yangong Du, Zhongmin Hu, Guangmin Cao
Summary: The study found that shrub vegetation (PFS) had higher soil water retention capacity compared to meadow vegetation (KPM and KHM) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. There were significant differences in soil properties between different vegetation types, with factors like capillary porosity, bulk density, and root biomass influencing soil water retention capacity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yida Xie, Feiteng Wang, Chunhai Xu, Xiaoying Yue, Shujing Yang
Summary: Global warming has accelerated, leading to a significant reduction in glaciers worldwide. Efforts to counteract glacier melt have been insufficient, with limited success in only a few glacier landscapes. A scientific experiment using geotextile covers was conducted on the Dagu Glacier, showing that the mass loss in the covered area was 15% lower per year compared to the uncovered areas.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Xin Zhao, Chao Wang, Jiankun He, Lianhui Liang, Yixian Tang, Hong Zhang
Summary: The use of InSAR data helps to explore the tectonic movement, fault slip rates, and strain distribution in the western Tibetan Plateau. The study reveals a high slip rate fault along the northern edge of the plateau, while the fault slip rates inside the plateau are much lower. Additionally, the strain rate is concentrated near the plateau margins and there is a low-strain region within the plateau.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yu Qin, Bo Huang, Wei Zhang, Yanhong Yu, Shuhua Yi, Yi Sun
Summary: The burrowing activity of pikas can significantly affect vegetation species composition on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau by increasing species richness and providing a new habitat for vegetation invasion. However, the impact on soil nutrition and moisture levels is less compared to adjacent vegetation patches.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhenchao Zhang, Yiran Zhao, Hao Lin, Yanpeng Li, Jinmin Fu, Yingxin Wang, Juan Sun, Yanhua Zhao
Summary: This meta-analysis investigated the effects of grazing intensity on plant characteristics and soil properties in alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau based on 52 peer-reviewed literatures. The results demonstrated that moderate grazing can increase plant richness and diversity, while heavy grazing can lead to grassland degradation. Therefore, moderate grazing is a sustainable agricultural practice on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fei Peng, Chimin Lai, Chengyang Li, Chen Ji, Pengfei Zhang, Jianbo Sun, Xiaojie Chen, Quangang You, Xian Xue
Summary: This study conducted a clipping experiment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to investigate the compensatory growth and conditions for the occurrence of over-compensatory at alpine meadows with different degradation status. The results showed that competition for light and reduction of soil nitrogen are the limiting factors for plant growth after clipping at non-degraded, slightly degraded, and heavily degraded alpine meadows. Additionally, it was found that over-compensatory growth occurred mainly due to the performance of forbs at moderately degraded alpine meadow.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wei Zhang, Shuhua Yi, Jianjun Chen, Yu Qin, Li Chang, Yi Sun, Donghui Shangguan
Summary: The study found that high mountain grassland vegetation patch patterns are mainly influenced by soil hydrothermal conditions and plateau pika disturbances, with soil moisture content and air temperature being major environmental factors. γ (TPL-PL) can serve as an effective indicator for monitoring mountain grassland conditions, and preventing patchiness is a critical task.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lei Sun, Yi-Fan Liu, Xiangtao Wang, Yu Liu, Gao-Lin Wu
Summary: The study found that gully erosion generally leads to serious soil nutrient loss and varies between shallow gully and deep gully. However, both shallow gully and deep gully showed an increase in available phosphorus variation, while deep gully also demonstrated an increase in pH variation. Soil sand content and soil nutrient properties were more sensitive to gully erosion in different cross sections, indicating that the depth of erosion gullies largely determines soil nutrient loss.
Article
Soil Science
Zeng Cui, Yi-Fan Liu, Yu Liu, Pedro A. M. Leite, Jianjun Shi, Zhi-Hua Shi, Gao-Lin Wu
Summary: The study found that the coverage of mattic epipedon affects surface runoff, evapotranspiration, and soil water storage in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region, with higher coverage of alpine meadows being more effective at maintaining surface runoff and improving soil water conservation.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Guanya Wang, Bing Xu, Zhiwei Li, Haiqiang Fu, Han Gao, Jie Wan, Changcheng Wang
Summary: A novel DS-InSAR method is proposed, applying the SKP decomposition method to DS candidates. Unlike existing methods, the proposed method considers both polarimetric and interferometric coherence information simultaneously, leading to the separation of polarimetric scattering process for each target and ensuring the physical reliability of the phase optimization solution. The evaluation using C-band Radarsat-2 SAR images over Kilauea Volcano demonstrates that the proposed method achieves a higher density of measurement scatterer points and a higher quality of DS interferometric phase with a temporally stable phase center compared to other methods.
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Zefa Yang, Jianjun Zhu, Jian Xie, Zhiwei Li, Lixin Wu, Zelin Ma
Summary: The proposed method aims to improve the accuracy of estimated 3-D mining displacements by dynamically estimating model parameters from multi-track InSAR observations and utilizing the conjugate gradient method for displacement resolution. The new method demonstrates better performance compared to the traditional Sin-LPM method, showing potential for enhancing InSAR-based retrieval of 3-D displacements induced by various activities.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Zefa Yang, Bing Xu, Zhiwei Li, Lixin Wu, Jianjun Zhu
Summary: This article proposes a new method for predicting mining-induced displacements by incorporating InSAR with a temporal model. Compared to previous methods, this approach requires fewer prior parameters and shows high accuracy in experiments.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2022)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Bochen Zhang, Wu Zhu, Xiaoli Ding, Chisheng Wang, Songbo Wu, Qin Zhang
Summary: Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has been widely used to measure ground displacements, but ionospheric variations can significantly affect the measurements, especially for low-frequency SAR systems. This paper provides an overview of the latest methods to mitigate the ionospheric contributions and discusses current challenges and future prospects.
GEODESY AND GEODYNAMICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shamsa Kanwal, Xiaoli Ding, Songbo Wu, Muhammad Sajjad
Summary: This study used remote sensing and data analysis techniques to investigate vertical ground displacements and coastline erosion in Karachi, Pakistan. The results showed that some areas of the Karachi coastline are subsiding at rates comparable to or higher than the relative sea-level rise, which may accelerate coastal erosion. The causes of ground displacements and coastline erosion were identified as rapid urbanization, construction on reclaimed land, coastline erosion favoring seawater intrusion, failed drainage/sewerage networks, and soil liquefaction.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ruiqing Song, Jicang Wu, Xinyou Song, Tao Li, Lei Zhang
Summary: With the use of new-generation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites with well-controlled orbits and a more accurate timing system, the ability for high-precision geolocation has been confirmed using radar reflectors. This study implemented SAR absolute and differential geolocation methods to determine the coordinates of corner reflectors (CRs) and multidirectional dihedral reflectors (MDRs). Experimental results showed that decimeter- or even centimeter-level positioning accuracy can be achieved using SAR stereo geolocation based on multiaspect SAR acquisitions from RadarSAT-2 (RS-2), COSMO-SkyMed (CSK), Sentinel-1 (S1), and TerraSAR-X (TSX).
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jihong Liu, Jun Hu, Zhiwei Li, Lei Zhang, Qian Sun, Jianjun Zhu, Lixin Wu
Summary: This paper proposes a method called SeaInSAR to dynamically estimate surface deformations using wrapped interferometric phase. The method accelerates the estimation process and significantly improves computation efficiency without compromising accuracy. Experiments with simulated and real data show that the SeaInSAR method is more than 20 times faster than the classical static method.
JOURNAL OF GEODESY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yan Zhu, Bing Xu, Zhiwei Li, Jie Li, Jingxin Hou, Wenxiang Mao
Summary: Atmospheric delay is a major error in ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GBSAR). Existing compensation methods for this error include external meteorological data correction, polynomial fitting, and persistent scatterers SAR interferometry (PSInSAR) calibration. The most popular method for GBSAR atmospheric delay compensation combines polynomial fitting and persistent scatterers targets. However, this method ignores the displacement component of coherent targets, which is impractical. This paper proposes a joint estimation method for ground displacement and atmospheric model parameters.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Meiyu Liu, Bing Xu, Zhiwei Li, Wenxiang Mao, Yan Zhu, Jingxin Hou, Weizheng Liu
Summary: Yunnan Province in China, with its complex topography and frequent landslide disasters, was evaluated using a random forest model based on the average annual deformation rate and other factors. The model achieved an accuracy of 0.80 and an AUC value of 0.87, indicating its reliability and suitability for landslide susceptibility assessment in Yunnan Province.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Caihong He, Qian Sun, Jun Hu, Rong Gui
Summary: Strong earthquakes can trigger many landslides and change the stability of slopes, leading to long-term slope activity. Studying the variation of slow-moving slopes before and after earthquakes is crucial for understanding the mechanism of earthquake-affected landslides and assessing long-term landslide risk in seismically active areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jun Hu, Yana Yu, Rong Gui, Wanji Zheng, Aoqing Guo
Summary: In this study, landslide deformations and land-use changes were analyzed in Fengjie County and Wushan County in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area using interferometric and polarimetric SAR. The study found that the distribution of landslides was significantly correlated with land-use types, especially human-associated cultivated vegetation which were more likely to cause landslide deformations.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Wanji Zheng, Jun Hu, Zhong Lu, Xie Hu, Qian Sun, Jihong Liu, Jianjun Zhu, Zhiwei Li
Summary: Complete and accurate estimation of three-dimensional (3-D) deformations for landslides is challenging, especially for slopes facing north or south. In this study, a topography-constrained strain model is proposed to derive complete 3-D movements by exploiting the spatial relationship of 3-D deformations between neighboring points and assuming surface parallel flow of landslides. The method is tested on both synthetic and real datasets, and the performance of various datasets and the potential of NISAR in deriving time series and 3-D movements are assessed.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xing Zhang, Zhengfeng Cheng, Bei Xu, Rong Gui, Jun Hu, Changjiang Yang, Qiuhong Yang, Tao Xiong
Summary: The Xi'an region in China has long been facing issues of groundwater depletion, ground fissure hazards, and surface subsidence. This study utilized multi-orbit and multi-temporal InSAR technology to measure displacements and deformation in Xi'an City. The results revealed the control of groundwater flow direction by ground fissures and the correlation between surface deformation and groundwater level. By quantifying the relationship between land subsidence, ground fissures, and groundwater level, this study provides reference for groundwater monitoring and management.
Editorial Material
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Hyung-Sup Jung, Sang-Hoon Hong, Lei Zhang
JOURNAL OF SENSORS
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Hongyu Liang, Lei Zhang, Xin Li
Summary: Phase unwrapping (PhU) is a crucial step in multitemporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (MTInSAR) processing, and improving the quality of inputs is essential for reliable unwrapping. In this study, we propose a method to enhance the PhU accuracy by improving the quality of differential phase observations. We use a quadtree-based coherence estimation method to efficiently select an optimal interferogram stack and develop a strategy that constructs redundant networks to connect synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and points.
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2023)
