Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Surface Water in China from the 1980s to 2015 Based on Remote Sensing Monitoring

Climate change and human interference play significant roles on dynamic of water body abundance, and drive related hydrological, biochemical and social/economic processes. Documenting and monitoring surface water area with high resolution multi-temporal satellite imagery provide new perspective to evaluate the dynamics of surface water area, especially in continental and global scale. In this study, based on the Landsat images from 1980s to 2015, we surveyed the spatial and temporal variation of surface water area, including rivers, lakes and reservoirs, in 10-yr temporal slice across China. Furthermore, the driving forces of the variation has been identified to reveal the interaction of water bodies and the changing environment. The results show that, the water surface area expanded over all three decades with strong spatial and temporal difference, despite the drier and warmer climate background; although lakes comprise the largest portion of the surface water area, the highest contributor of surface water expansion was new constructed reservoir located in the densely populated region; climatic parameters alteration, like precipitation and temperature, resulted in the water surface expansion in the northwestern basin by growing water input linked with rain and glacier melting; in the rest part of China, rise of water surface area was predominately attributed to human relocation of water resource, which yielded more new water storage area than the disappeared water body caused by less precipitation and stronger evapotranspiration. The conclusions highlight the integrative water resource management, especially in water conservation and restoration.