{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T16:04:04Z","timestamp":1781625844063,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1507852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The change in snow cover under climate change is poorly understood in Tianshan Mountains. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics and trends of snow-covered area (SCA) and snow-covered days (SCD) in the Tianshan Mountains by using the cloud-removed MODIS fractional snow cover datasets from 2001\u20132015. The possible linkage between the snow cover and temperature and precipitation changes over the Tianshan Mountains is also investigated. The results are as follows: (1) The distribution of snow cover over the Tianshan Mountains exhibits a large spatiotemporal heterogeneity. The areas with SCD greater than 120 days are distributed in the principal mountains with elevations of above 3000 m. (2) In total, 26.39% (5.09% with a significant decline) and 34.26% (2.81% with a significant increase) of the study area show declining and increasing trend in SCD, respectively. The SCD mainly decreases in Central and Eastern Tianshan (decreased by 11.88% and 8.03%, respectively), while it increases in Northern and Western Tianshan (increased by 9.36% and 7.47%). (3) The snow cover variations are linked to the temperature and precipitation changes. Temperature tends to be the major factor effecting the snow cover changes in the Tianshan Mountains during 2001\u20132015.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9101045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T11:34:09Z","timestamp":1507894449000},"page":"1045","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":99,"title":["Spatiotemporal Variation of Snow Cover in Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia, Based on Cloud-Free MODIS Fractional Snow Cover Product, 2001\u20132015"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Zhiguang","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Geo-Spatial Information Technology, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoru","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Geo-Spatial Information Technology, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Geo-Spatial Information Technology, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongyi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zongli","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Geo-Spatial Information Technology, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Hu, R. (2013). Snow and Its Disaster Control in China, China Environmental Press. [1st ed.]. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"198","DOI":"10.1126\/science.263.5144.198","article-title":"Observed impact of snow cover on the heat-balance and the rise of continental spring temperatures","volume":"263","author":"Groisman","year":"1994","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2004.09.012","article-title":"Quantifying the uncertainty in passive microwave snow water equivalent observations","volume":"94","author":"Foster","year":"2005","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"881","DOI":"10.1007\/s11430-006-0881-8","article-title":"Effect of climate change on snowmelt runoffs in mountainous regions of inland rivers in northwestern China","volume":"49","author":"Wang","year":"2006","journal-title":"Sci. China Ser. D Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1689","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0477(1993)074<1689:GSCMAU>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Global snow cover monitoring: An update","volume":"74","author":"Robinson","year":"1993","journal-title":"Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1820","DOI":"10.1175\/JCLI3694.1","article-title":"Snow cover distribution, variability, and response to climate change in western China","volume":"19","author":"Qin","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1411","DOI":"10.5194\/nhess-13-1411-2013","article-title":"Early warning of snow-caused disasters in pastoral areas on the Tibetan Plateau","volume":"13","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"061","article-title":"Impact assessment of water scarcity at Somntongo in the lowveld region of Swaziland","volume":"3","author":"Mijinyawa","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sci. Res. Essays"},{"key":"ref_9","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_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"725","DOI":"10.1038\/nclimate1592","article-title":"Climate change impacts on glaciers and runoff in Tien Shan (Central Asia)","volume":"2","author":"Sorg","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nat. Clim. Chang."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"716","DOI":"10.1038\/ngeo2513","article-title":"Substantial glacier mass loss in the Tien Shan over the past 50 years","volume":"8","author":"Farinotti","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1007\/s00382-015-2585-2","article-title":"Response of glacier mass balance to climate change in the Tianshan Mountains during the second half of the twentieth century","volume":"46","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clim. Dyn."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/8\/4\/044052","article-title":"Changes of glacial lakes and implications in Tian Shan, central Asia, based on remote sensing data from 1990 to 2010","volume":"8","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Hu, R. (2004). Physical Geography of the Tianshan Mountains in China, China Environmental Science Press. [1st ed.]. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"L06706","DOI":"10.1029\/2007GL029262","article-title":"MODIS\/Terra observed seasonal variations of snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau","volume":"34","author":"Pu","year":"2007","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, C., Su, F., Yang, D., Tong, K., Meng, F., and Kan, B. (2017). Spatiotemporal variation of snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau based on MODIS snow product, 2001\u20132014. Int. J. Climatol.","DOI":"10.1002\/joc.5204"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"68","article-title":"Climate changes and seasonal snow cover variability in the Western Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang in 1967\u20132000","volume":"27","author":"Gao","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Glaciol. Geocryol."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"80","article-title":"Snow cover variation during 1959\u20132003 in Tianshan Mountains, China","volume":"3","author":"Yang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Adv. Clim. Chang. Res."},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"123","article-title":"A Study on snowfall variation in the Tianshan Mountains during the recent 30 winters","volume":"18","author":"Xu","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Glaciol. Geocryol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1113","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1752-1688.1995.tb03426.x","article-title":"Climate, snow cover, glaciers, and runoff in the Tien Shan, central Asia","volume":"31","author":"Aizen","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"303","article-title":"Muti-paths impact from climate change on snow cover in Tianshan Mountainous area of China","volume":"12","author":"Li","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clim. Chang. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(02)00095-0","article-title":"MODIS snow-cover products","volume":"83","author":"Hall","year":"2002","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1534","DOI":"10.1002\/hyp.6715","article-title":"Accuracy assessment of the MODIS snow products","volume":"21","author":"Hall","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hydrol. Process."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Riggs, G.A., Hall, D.K., and Salomonson, V.V. (2014, May 10). MODIS Snow Products User Guide to Collection 5, Available online: https:\/\/modis-snow-ice.gsfc.nasa.gov\/."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1007\/s11269-008-9265-5","article-title":"Role of elevation and aspect in snow distribution in Western Himalaya","volume":"23","author":"Jain","year":"2009","journal-title":"Water Resour. Manag."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"073582","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JRS.7.073582","article-title":"Spatiotemporal changes of snow cover over the Tibetan plateau based on cloud-removed moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer fractional snow cover product from 2001 to 2011","volume":"7","author":"Tang","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Appl. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(03)00097-X","article-title":"Validation of daily MODIS snow cover maps of the Upper Rio Grande River Basin for the 2000\u20132001 snow year","volume":"86","author":"Klein","year":"2003","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"722","article-title":"Accuracy analysis for MODIS snow products of MOD10A1 and MOD10A2 in northern Xinjiang area","volume":"29","author":"Huang","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Glaciol. Geocryol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5863","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160801908129","article-title":"Accuracy assessment of MODIS, NOAA and IRS data in snow cover mapping under Himalayan conditions","volume":"29","author":"Jain","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"033559","DOI":"10.1117\/1.3265996","article-title":"Development and assessment of combined Terra and Aqua snow cover products in Colorado Plateau, USA and northern Xinjiang, China","volume":"3","author":"Xie","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Appl. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"192","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2009.03.028","article-title":"New methods for studying the spatiotemporal variation of snow cover based on combination products of MODIS Terra and Aqua","volume":"371","author":"Wang","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"496","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2009.10.007","article-title":"Development and evaluation of a cloud-gap-filled MODIS daily snow-cover product","volume":"114","author":"Hall","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1361","DOI":"10.5194\/hess-13-1361-2009","article-title":"Cloud removal methodology from MODIS snow cover product","volume":"13","author":"Gafurov","year":"2009","journal-title":"Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2011.04.026","article-title":"Evaluation of a cloud-gap-filled MODIS daily snow cover product over the Pacific Northwest USA","volume":"404","author":"Gao","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3750","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2008.05.010","article-title":"Toward improved daily snow cover mapping with advanced combination of MODIS and AMSR-E measurements","volume":"112","author":"Liang","year":"2008","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2010.01.022","article-title":"Toward advanced daily cloud-free snow cover and snow water equivalent products from Terra\u2013Aqua MODIS and Aqua AMSR-E measurements","volume":"385","author":"Gao","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1371","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160903548013","article-title":"A blended global snow product using visible, passive microwave and scatterometer satellite data","volume":"32","author":"Foster","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2009.11.042","article-title":"A regional snow-line method for estimating snow cover from MODIS during cloud cover","volume":"381","author":"Parajka","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1662","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2010.02.017","article-title":"Integrated assessment on multi-temporal and multi-sensor combinations for reducing cloud obscuration of MODIS snow cover products of the Pacific Northwest USA","volume":"114","author":"Gao","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2003.10.016","article-title":"Estimating fractional snow cover from MODIS using the normalized difference snow index","volume":"89","author":"Salomonson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"423","article-title":"Accuracy validation and cloud obscuration removal of MODIS fractional snow cover products over Tibetan Plateau","volume":"28","author":"Tang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Tech. Appl."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"084689","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JRS.8.084689","article-title":"Extraction and assessment of snowline altitude over the Tibetan plateau using MODIS fractional snow cover data (2001 to 2013)","volume":"8","author":"Tang","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Appl. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70100169","article-title":"Spatio-temporal change of snow cover and its response to climate over the Tibetan plateau based on an improved daily cloud-free snow cover product","volume":"7","author":"Wang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"18","article-title":"Impact of climate change on water resources in the Tianshan Mountians, Central Asia","volume":"72","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Acta Geogr. Sin."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1143","DOI":"10.1175\/JCLI-D-13-00064.1","article-title":"Temperature changes in central Asia from 1979 to 2011 based on multiple datasets","volume":"27","author":"Hu","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1038\/nature12534","article-title":"Recent global-warming hiatus tied to equatorial Pacific surface cooling","volume":"501","author":"Yu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1029\/2009GL037810","article-title":"Is the climate warming or cooling?","volume":"36","author":"Easterling","year":"2009","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12345","DOI":"10.1002\/2015JD023618","article-title":"Potential impacts of climate change on vegetation dynamics in Central Asia","volume":"120","author":"Li","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2016.04.026","article-title":"Using glacier area ratio to quantify effects of melt water on runoff","volume":"538","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"208","DOI":"10.1007\/s12517-015-2106-y","article-title":"Runoff response to the glacier shrinkage in the Karatal river basin, Kazakhstan","volume":"9","author":"Kaldybayev","year":"2016","journal-title":"Arab. J. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4727","DOI":"10.1002\/2014WR016716","article-title":"Attribution of streamflow trends in snow and glacier melt-dominated catchments of the Tarim River, Central Asia","volume":"51","author":"Duethmann","year":"2015","journal-title":"Water Resour. Res."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45019","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/2\/4\/045019","article-title":"Glaciers and hydrological changes in the Tien Shan: Simulation and prediction","volume":"2","author":"Aizen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Qu, J.J., Gao, W., Kafatos, M., Murphy, R.E., and Salomonson, V.V. (2006). The MODIS reprojection tool. Earth Science Satellite Remote Sensing, Springer. [1st ed.].","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-37294-3"},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.5194\/hess-10-679-2006","article-title":"Validation of MODIS snow cover images over Austria","volume":"10","author":"Parajka","year":"2006","journal-title":"Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3665","DOI":"10.1002\/hyp.10472","article-title":"Snow cover variability and snowmelt in a high-altitude ungauged catchment","volume":"29","author":"Wang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Hydrol. Process."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6741","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70606741","article-title":"Snow cover variations and controlling factors at upper Heihe river basin, northwestern China","volume":"7","author":"Bi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/9\/10\/1045\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:47:11Z","timestamp":1760208431000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/9\/10\/1045"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]},"references-count":56,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]}},"alternative-id":["rs9101045"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs9101045","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]}}}