Analysis of stable snowpack distribution pattern and influencing
factors
Zihan Zhang1,2, Lumin Nie1,2 and
Heng Lu1,2
1 Sichuan Normal University of The Faculty Geography Resource Sciences,
Chengdu 610101, People’s Republic of China
2 Key Laboratory of the Evaluation and Monitoring of Southwest Land
Resources (Ministry of Education), Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu
610068, People’s Republic of China
Corresponding Author :
luheng@sicnu.edu.cn
Abstract: Under the background of climate warming, the
distribution pattern of snowpack in mountainous areas is naturally under
the focus of attention, and the changes in the snowpack pattern in
mountainous areas have important impacts on hydrological processes such
as downstream river runoff, water supply, and so on. In this study,
based on the MODIS day-by-day cloud-free snowpack area dataset, we
analysed the process of stable snowpack formation and the final pattern
of snowpack in spring and winter in two typical topographic regions, the
hilly plateau and the alpine valley region, in the eastern part of the
Tibetan Plateau, and constructed a model based on the Maximum Entropy
Model (MEM) method for predicting the influencing factors of the stable
snowpack. A model was constructed based on the maximum entropy model
method to predict the factors influencing the stable snowpack, and the
dominant factors of the stable snowpack in spring and winter in the
watersheds of the two topographic regions were analysed. The main
conclusions are as follows: (1) The snow ablation rate on the western
Sichuan Plateau is different in winter and spring, and is greater in
spring than in winter; there is also a difference in the snow ablation
rate in different topographic regions, with a greater difference in the
hilly plateau than in the high mountain valleys. (2) The distribution
pattern of stable snow in the two major terrain areas of the Western
Sichuan Plateau varies in seasons, and the spatial distribution area is
relatively small, mostly showing a rising trend with increasing
altitude. (3) The influence factors of stable snowpack in different
terrain areas in different seasons are different, and elevation is the
main factor influencing the distribution pattern of stable snowpack. The
results of this paper have some reference value for the study of snow
hydrology in the climatic context of the Western Sichuan Plateau.
Keyword: Snow; Remote sensing; the Western of Sichuan Plateau;
the maxent model