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Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["42071091"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42071091"]}]},{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["41971083"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41971083"]}]},{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["2019YFC1510502"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019YFC1510502"]}]},{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["2020YFS0356"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020YFS0356"]}]},{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"]}]},{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China","award":["20JR10RA029"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20JR10RA029"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["42071091"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42071091"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["41971083"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41971083"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["2019YFC1510502"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019YFC1510502"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["2020YFS0356"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020YFS0356"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"]}]},{"name":"Self-determination Project of the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences","award":["20JR10RA029"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20JR10RA029"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["42071091"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42071091"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["41971083"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41971083"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["2019YFC1510502"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019YFC1510502"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["2020YFS0356"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020YFS0356"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SKLCS-ZZ-2022"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province","award":["20JR10RA029"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20JR10RA029"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Historical patterns of snow cover and snowmelt are shifting due to climate warming and perhaps some human activities, threatening natural water resources and the ecological environment. Passive microwave remote sensing provides quantitative data for snow mass evaluation. Here, we evaluated the long-term impact of climate warming on snowmelt rates, using snow water equivalent (SWE) datasets derived from passive microwave remotely sensed data over China\u2019s three main stable snow cover regions during the past 40 years (1981\u20132020). The results showed that higher ablation rates in spring were found in locations with a deeper SWE because of high snowmelt rates that occurred in late spring and early summer in areas with a deeper snowpack. Annual maximum SWE (snow water equivalent) has declined across two out of the three main mountains of China\u2019s snow cover regions over the past 40 years under climate warming. The maximum and mean snowmelt rate was ca. 30 and 3 mm\/day, respectively, over the three regions. Further, due to SWE being reduced in these deep snowpack areas, moderate and high rates of snowmelt showed trends of decline after 2000. Accordingly, an earlier snow onset day (average 0.6~0.7 day\/a) and slower snowmelt rates characterized the mountainous areas across the three main snow cover regions. The slower snowmelt rate is also closely related to vegetation improvement over the three main stable snow cover regions. Therefore, not only vegetation in spring but also streamflow and other ecological processes could be affected by the pronounced changes in SWE and snowmelt rates. These findings strengthen our understanding of how to better assess ecological and environmental changes towards the sustainable use of freshwater resources in spring and earlier summer months in snow-rich alpine regions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs14174176","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,26]],"date-time":"2022-08-26T02:04:32Z","timestamp":1661479472000},"page":"4176","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Spatial Trend and Impact of Snowmelt Rate in Spring across China\u2019s Three Main Stable Snow Cover Regions over the Past 40 Years Based on Remote Sensing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8559-1599","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xuejiao","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Koktokay Snow Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}]},{"given":"Rao","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Koktokay Snow Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8469-338X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yinping","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Environmental and Resource Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5433-8440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Koktokay Snow Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1038\/nature04141","article-title":"Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions","volume":"438","author":"Barnett","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"755","DOI":"10.5194\/hess-20-755-2016","article-title":"Variability in snow cover phenology in China from 1952 to 2010","volume":"20","author":"Ke","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hydrol. 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