The Study of Yamzho Lake and Chencuo Lake Variation Using Remote Sensing in Tibet Plateau from 1970 to 2000

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau holds over 1000 lakes and accounts for roughly 50 % of the total lake area in China.Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau play critical roles in the water cycle and ecological and environment systems of the Plateau.A better understanding of lake variations on the Tibetan is important for evaluating climate change on Tibetan Plateau under global warming.The remote sensing technique is an efficient tool to analyze the status and variations of lakes.This study use topographic maps,aerial photographs,Landsat TM images,and compilations of other relevant data to set up one synthesis method using remote sensing,and uses the method to analyze the changes of the Yamzho and Chencuo lakes on the Plateau from 1970 to 2000.The results show using the method to study the lakes variation from 1970 to 2000 is feasible and all the Yamzho and Chencuo lakes shrunk with 6.78% and 2.6% from 1970 to 2000,but all the Yamzho and Chencuo lakes expanded with 2.92% and 0.78% in the period of 1990~2000.