Investigating Lake Ice Phenology in Tibetan Plateau Using Satellite Data

Lake ice phenology are considered as a sensitive indicator of global warming. In Tibetan Plateau (TP), differences exist in identifying lake ice phenology using remote sensing data because of the limited ground observation and difference in the sources of remote sensing and the available algorithms. In this study, four methods based on different remote sensed data (MODIS reflectance data, snow product, land surface temperature data, and microwave data) were used to identify the lake ice phenology of 18 lakes in the TP from 2002 to 2015. Lake ice duration was longer from the south to the north, and the highest consistency is occurred in monitoring the completely ice-covering duration. Temperature plays a greater role among several climatic-environmental elements. The lake ice period was shortened in the northeastern part of the TP, and extended in the middle and northern part.