Analysis of Glacial Morphological Characteristics in Ányêmaqên Mountains Using Multi-Source Time-Series High-Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery

Since the 1990s, glaciers in the Ányêmaqên Mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau have exhibited anomalous retreat and thinning. This persistent deglaciation has triggered secondary disasters including glacial debris flows, ice collapses, and glacial lake outburst floods, posing significant threats...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) Vol. 17; no. 18; p. 2749
Main Authors: Xu, Wei, Chen, Gang, Wu, Xiaotian, Li, Delin, Mao, Yuhui, Zhang, Xin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 17.09.2025
Subjects:
Ablation
Accuracy
Climate change
Deep learning
Emergency communications systems
Environmental aspects
Forecasts and trends
Glaciers
Morphology
Mountains
Neural networks
Precipitation
Remote sensing
Satellites
Time-series analysis
Trends
China
Tibetan Plateau
Pamirs
Yellow River
ISSN:2073-4441, 2073-4441
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Since the 1990s, glaciers in the Ányêmaqên Mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau have exhibited anomalous retreat and thinning. This persistent deglaciation has triggered secondary disasters including glacial debris flows, ice collapses, and glacial lake outburst floods, posing significant threats to regional ecological security and sustainable socioeconomic development. To address this issue, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of glacial morphological characteristics using multi-source time-series high-resolution remote sensing imagery spanning 2013–2024. Glacier boundaries were extracted through integrated methodologies combining manual visual interpretation, band ratio thresholding, three-dimensional geomorphic analysis, and an optimized DeepLabV3+ convolutional neural network with adaptive activation thresholds. Extraction accuracy was rigorously validated using quantitative metrics (Accuracy, Precision, Recall, Loss, and F1-score). Key findings reveal the following: dominant glacier types include ice caps, valley glaciers, and hanging glaciers distributed at mean elevations of 5200–5600 m; total glacial area decreased from 102.71 km2 to 81.10 km2, yielding an average annual decrease rate of −1.93%; glacier count increased from 74 to 86, corresponding to a mean relative change rate of 1.18% per annum; and thirty-eight geohazard sites were identified predominantly on upper slopes (30–50°) of north-facing terrain, with elevations ranging from 4500–5400 m (base) to 5120–6050 m (crest). These results provide critical data support for enhancing ecological resilience, strengthening disaster mitigation capabilities, and safeguarding public safety and infrastructure against climate change impacts in the region.
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ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w17182749