Articles | Volume 28, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3897-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3897-2024
Research article
 | 
26 Aug 2024
Research article |  | 26 Aug 2024

Projected future changes in the cryosphere and hydrology of a mountainous catchment in the upper Heihe River, China

Zehua Chang, Hongkai Gao, Leilei Yong, Kang Wang, Rensheng Chen, Chuntan Han, Otgonbayar Demberel, Batsuren Dorjsuren, Shugui Hou, and Zheng Duan

Data sets

A consensus estimate for the ice thickness distribution of all glaciers on Earth - dataset Daniel Farinotti https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000315707

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Short summary
An integrated cryospheric–hydrologic model, FLEX-Cryo, was developed that considers glaciers, snow cover, and frozen soil and their dynamic impacts on hydrology. We utilized it to simulate future changes in cryosphere and hydrology in the Hulu catchment. Our projections showed the two glaciers will melt completely around 2050, snow cover will reduce, and permafrost will degrade. For hydrology, runoff will decrease after the glacier has melted, and permafrost degradation will increase baseflow.