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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2017, Vol. 9 Issue (6): 850-864    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-017-0032-4     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-017-0032-4
Orginal Article     
Spatial-temporal variations in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in the source region of the Yellow River during the period 2002-2011 based on the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) data
Rui WANG1, Qingke ZHU1,*(), Hao MA2, Ning AI3
1 School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2 Northwest Institute of Forest Inventory and Planning and Design, State Forestry Administration, Xi’an 710048, China
3 College of Life Science, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China
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Abstract  

Detecting near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in high-altitude cold regions is important for understanding the Earth’s surface system, but such studies are rare. In this study, we detected the spatial-temporal variations in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in the source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) during the period 2002-2011 based on data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). Moreover, the trends of onset dates and durations of the soil freeze-thaw cycles under different stages were also analyzed. Results showed that the thresholds of daytime and nighttime brightness temperatures of the freeze-thaw algorithm for the SRYR were 257.59 and 261.28 K, respectively. At the spatial scale, the daily frozen surface (DFS) area and the daily surface freeze-thaw cycle surface (DFTS) area decreased by 0.08% and 0.25%, respectively, and the daily thawed surface (DTS) area increased by 0.36%. At the temporal scale, the dates of the onset of thawing and complete thawing advanced by 3.10 (±1.4) and 2.46 (±1.4) days, respectively; and the dates of the onset of freezing and complete freezing were delayed by 0.9 (±1.4) and 1.6 (±1.1) days, respectively. The duration of thawing increased by 0.72 (±0.21) day/a and the duration of freezing decreased by 0.52 (±0.26) day/a. In conclusion, increases in the annual minimum temperature and winter air temperature are the main factors for the advanced thawing and delayed freezing and for the increase in the duration of thawing and the decrease in the duration of freezing in the SRYR.

Key words： Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System      air temperature      near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles      source region of the Yellow River     
Received: 24 June 2016      Published: 20 December 2017
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Rui WANG, Qingke ZHU, Hao MA, Ning AI. Spatial-temporal variations in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in the source region of the Yellow River during the period 2002-2011 based on the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) data. Journal of Arid Land, 2017, 9(6): 850-864.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-017-0032-4     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2017/V9/I6/850

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