Quantifying evaporation and its decadal change for Lake Nam Co, central Tibetan Plateau. Issue 13 (4th July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Kun; Wang, Junbo; Lei, Yanbin; Chen, Yingying; Zhu, Liping; Ding, Baohong; Qin, Jun
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 121:Issue 13(2016)
• Page Start: 7578
• Page End: 7591
• Publication Date: 2016-07-04
• Subjects: lake evaporation -- Flake model -- potential evaporation -- water balance change; Atmospheric physics -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 551.5
• DOI: 10.1002/2015JD024523
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-897X

Abstract

Abstract: Most lakes in the interior Tibetan Plateau have expanded rapidly since the late 1990s. Because of a lack of observations, lake water balances and their changes are far from well understood. Evaporation is a component of the lake water balance, and this study quantifies its magnitude, decadal change, and its contribution to the water balance changes in Lake Nam Co, one of the largest lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (with an area of approximately 2000 km 2 and a mean depth of approximately 40 m). The lake temperature and the evaporation are simulated by the Flake model. The simulation results are validated against observed lake temperature profile from 2013 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer lake surface temperature data from 2000 to 2014. The simulated latent heat flux and sensible heat flux are validated against Bowen ratio‐derived estimates for 2013. Based on the validated simulation results, the long‐term mean annual evaporation is approximately 832 ± 69 mm, and this value is much less than the potential evaporation estimated using the Penman‐Monteith equation. The annual evaporation from 1980 to 2014 displays a complex decadal oscillation, mainly due to the changes in energy‐related terms (air temperature and radiation). The mean lake evaporation since the late 1990s is greater than previous periods; thus, this change in evaporation has suppressed the recent expansion of Nam Co. Key Points: Evaporation of Nam Co is simulated by Flake model with good accuracy Simulated evaporation is much less than Penman‐equation‐derived one for the deep lake The evaporation change played a role in suppressing the recent expansion of Nam Co