Managing erosion and deposition to stabilize a silt-laden river.

Human regulations are involved in the hydrogeomorphic processes of silt-laden rivers with unprecedented intensity, and further, affect the structures and functions of the riverine social-ecosystem. The braided reach (BR) of the lower Yellow River is one of the world's most sediment-rich and dynamic rivers. In the recent twenty years, the Xiaolangdi Reservoir constructed upstream and the growing river training works have deeply changed the conditions of the BR, however, the behaviors of the fluvial system under multiple human influences and their mechanisms remain unexplored.

Estimating daily evapotranspiration in the agricultural-pastoral ecotone in Northwest China: A comparative analysis of the Complementary Relationship, WRF-CLM4.0, and WRF-Noah methods.

Accurate estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) over regional scale is essential for ecohydrological research, agricultural production, and water resources management. However, few studies have been done to estimate regional ET in data lacking, highly heterogeneous arid areas such as the Agricultural-Pastoral Ecotone in Northwest China (APENC). In this study, we compared three actual ET-estimation methods driven by Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in a semi-arid region.

Contrasting streamflow regimes induced by melting glaciers across the Tien Shan - Pamir - North Karakoram.

The glacierized Tien Shan - Pamir - Karakoram mountain complex supplies water to about 42 million people. Yet, the knowledge about future glacial runoff in response to future climate is limited. Here, we address this issue using a hydrological model, that includes the three components of glacial runoff: ice melt, snowmelt and the runoff of rainfall over ice.

Evaluating the coupling effects of climate aridity and vegetation restoration on soil erosion over the Loess Plateau in China.

In this study, the coupling effects of climate aridity and vegetation restoration on runoff and sediment yield over the Loess Plateau were examined and characterized. To take into consideration the complexity of drought, as well as the varied strengths and weaknesses of different drought measures, two drought indices are selected to identify and evaluate drought variability. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data were obtained to monitor and express spatiotemporal variations in vegetation cover.

Evaluation of agricultural nonpoint source pollution potential risk over China with a Transformed-Agricultural Nonpoint Pollution Potential Index method.

Agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution has been the most important threat to water environment quality. Understanding the spatial distribution of NPS pollution potential risk is important for taking effective measures to control and reduce NPS pollution. A Transformed-Agricultural Nonpoint Pollution Potential Index (T-APPI) model was constructed for evaluating the national NPS pollution potential risk in this study; it was also combined with remote sensing and geographic information system techniques for evaluation on the large scale and at 1 km2 spatial resolution.

Analysis of agricultural land use change in the middle reach of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China.

The Heihe River Basin (HRB) is the second largest inland river basin in arid Northwest China. The expanding agricultural irrigation, growing industrialization, and increasing urban development in the middle reach have depleted much of the river flow to the lower reach, degrading the corresponding ecosystems. Since the enactment of the State Council of China's new HRB water allocation policy in 2000 tremendous land use and land cover (LULC) changes have taken place to reduce water consumption in the middle reach and deliver more water downstream.