Abstract
The gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) has emerged as a crucial source of land water storage information in hydrological analysis and research. Numerous factors contribute to regional terrestrial water storage (TWS), resulting in a complex mechanism. In the Loess Plateau region, the continuous alteration of natural conditions and profound impact of human activities have posed a serious threat to the natural ecosystem, leading to an escalating trend of TWS reduction. Addressing the specific analysis of how natural conditions and human activities affect TWS represents a pressing issue. This study employed the residual analysis method to discern the contribution rates of natural conditions and human activities, elucidated the spatial and temporal changes associated with each factor, and ascertained their individual influence. The findings indicated that TWS on the Loess Plateau exhibited a downward trend of −4.89 mm·a−1 from 2003 to 2017. The combined effects of climate change and human activities accounted for alterations in water resource reserves across most areas of the Loess Plateau, with human activities predominantly driving these changes. Precipitation emerged as the primary natural factor influencing TWS variations, and NDVI demonstrated a positive feedback effect on TWS at approximately 30%. Substantial spatial disparities in TWS existed within the Loess Plateau, with human activities identified as the primary cause for the decreasing trend. Vegetation restoration plays a positive role in saving water resources in the Loess Plateau to some extent, and vegetation growth exceeding the regional load will lead to water shortage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability: All datasets used in this study are publicly available: GRACE data used in this study were obtained from the CSR (http://www2.csr.utexas.edu/grace/). Temperature data were acquired from the National Tibetan Plateau Scientific Data Center (http://data.tpdc.ac.cn). The NDVI data were derived from the MOD13Q1 level product, provided by NASA (http://lpdaac.usgs.gov). The GDP data were sourced from the Resources and Environmental Science and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/Default.aspx). The Chinese population spatial distribution kilometer grid dataset was provided by spatializing the statistical population data at districts and counties (https://www.resdc.cn/Default.aspx). The EANTLI-class night light dataset could be obtained from Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository (https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.2022.06.01.V1).
References
Ahmed M, Sultan M, Wahr J, et al. (2014) The use of GRACE data to monitor natural and anthropogenic induced variations in water availability across Africa. Earth Sci Rev 136: 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.05.009
Allen RG, Pereira LS, Raes D, et al. (1998) Crop evapotranspiration-guidelines for computing crop water requirements - FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56. http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0490E/X0490E00.htm
Asoka A, Gleeson T, Wada Y, et al. (2017) Relative contribution of monsoon precipitation and pumping to changes in groundwater storage in India. Nat Geosci 10: 109–117. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2869
Aziz O, Burn DH (2006) Trends and variability in the hydrological regime of the Mackenzie River Basin. J Hydrol 319: 282–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.06.039
Burn DH, Elnur M (2002) Detection of hydrologic trends and variability. J Hydrol 255: 107–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00514-5
Chen L, Wang J, Wei W, et al. (2010) Effects of landscape restoration on soil water storage and water use in the Loess Plateau region, China. For Ecol Manag 259(7): 1291–1298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.10.025
Deng H, Chen Y (2016) Influences of recent climate change and human activities on water storage variations in Central Asia. J Hydrol 544: 46–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.11.006
Döll P, Hoffmann-Dobrev H, Portmann FT, et al. (2012) Impact of water withdrawals from groundwater and surface water on continental water storage variations. J Geodyn 59–60: 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jog.2011.05.001
Dong L, Xiong L, Yu K, et al. (2012) Research advances in effects of climate change and human activities on hydrology. Adv Water Sci 23(2): 278–285. (In Chinese)
Felfelani F, Wada Y, Longuevergne L, et al. (2017) Natural and human-induced terrestrial water storage change: A global analysis using hydrological models and GRACE. J Hydrol 553: 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.07.048
Feng W, Zhong M, Lemoine JM, et al. (2013) Evaluation of groundwater depletion in North China using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and ground-based measurements. Water Resour Res 49: 2110–2118. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20192
Giordano M, Zhu Z, Cai X, et al. (2004) Water management in the Yellow River Basin: background, current critical issues and future research needs. International Water Management Institute Research Reports.
Gocic M, Trajkovic S (2013) Analysis of changes in meteorological variables using Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope estimator statistical tests in Serbia. Global Planet Change 100: 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.10.014
Haddeland I, Heinke J, Biemans H, et al. (2014) Global water resources affected by human interventions and climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111: 3251–3256. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.122247511
Hasan E, Tarhule A (2020) GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment long-term trend investigation over the Nile River Basin: Spatial variability drivers. J Hydrol 586: 124870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124870
Humphrey V, Gudmundsson L, Seneviratne SI (2016) Assessing global water storage variability from GRACE: trends, seasonal cycle, subseasonal anomalies and extremes. Surv Geophys 37: 357–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-016-9367-1
Huntington TG (2006) Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: Review and synthesis. J Hydrol 319: 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.07.003
IPCC (2013) Summary for policymakers. Stocker TF, Qin DH, Plattner GK, et al. Climate change 2013: the physical scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ji W, Jun X, Toor G, et al. (2021) Nitrate-nitrogen transport in streamwater and groundwater in a loess covered region: Sources, drivers, and spatiotemporal variation. Sci The Total Environ 761: 143278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143278
Jia YW, Wang H, Wang JH, et al. (2005) Development and verification of a distributed hydrologic model for the Yellow River Basin. J Nat Resour 20(2): 300–308. http://www.jnr.ac.cn/CN/10.11849/zrzyxb.2005.02.020
Jiang T, Su X, Guo S, et al. (2021) Spatiotemporal variation of vegetation water consumption and its response to meteorological drought in Northwest China. J Hydraul Eng 52: 229–240. https://doi.org/10.13243/j.cnki.slxb.20200642
Jiao JY, Zhang ZG, Bai WJ, et al. (2012) Assessing the ecological success of restoration by afforestation on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Restor Ecol 20: 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00756.x
Khandu, Forootan E, Schumacher M, et al. (2016) Exploring the influence of precipitation extremes and human water use on total water storage (TWS) changes in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin. Water Resour Res 52: 2240–2258. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR018113
Khandu, Forootan E, Awange JL, et al. (2015) Impacts of extreme climate events on total water storage (TWS) changes in Brahmaputra-Ganges-Meghna Basin. 26th IUGG General Assembly At: Prague, Czech RepublicVolume: IUGG-0271.
Leblanc MJ, Tregoning P, Ramillien G, et al. (2009) Basin-scale, integrated observations of the early 21st century multiyear drought in southeast Australia. Water Resour Res 45: W04408. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR007333
Li S, Liang W, Fu B, et al. (2016) Vegetation changes in recent large-scale ecological restoration projects and subsequent impact on water resources in China’s Loess Plateau. Sci Total Environ 569–570: 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.141
Li T, Yang S (2017) Prediction and optimization of water resources supply and demand balance in Longhua District of Shenzhen based on system dynamics. J Basic Sci Eng 25: 917–931. https://doi.org/10.16058/j.issn.1005-0930.2017.05.005
Li Z, Coles AE, Xiao J (2019) Groundwater and streamflow sources in China’s Loess Plateau on catchment scale. Catena 181: 104075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.104075
Li WQ, Wang W, Zhang CY, et al. (2019) Bridging terrestrial water storage anomaly during GRACE/GRACE-FO gap using SSA method: A case study in China. Sensors 19(19): 4144. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19194144
Liu J, Li S, Ouyang Z, et al. (2008) Ecological and socioeconomic effects of China’s policies for ecosystem services. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(28): 9477–9482. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.07064361
Liu X, Hu B, Ren Z (2018) Spatiotemporal variation of water use efficiency and its driving forces on the Loess Plateau during 2000–2014. Sci Agric Sin 51(2): 302–314. https://doi.org/10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2018.02.010
Liu X, Liu C, Luo Y (2012) Dramatic decrease in streamflow from the headwater source in the central route of China’s water diversion project: Climatic variation or human influence? J Geophys Res: Atmos 117: D06113. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016879
Long D, Scanlon BR, Longuevergne L, et al. (2013) GRACE satellite monitoring of large depletion in water storage in response to the 2011 drought in Texas. Geophys Res Lett 40(13): 3395–3401. https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50655
Lv M, Ma ZG, Li MX, et al. (2019) Quantitative analysis of terrestrial water storage changes under the Grain for Green Program in the Yellow River Basin. J Geophys Res: Atmos 124(3): 1336–1351. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029113
Mann HB (1945) Nonparametric test against trend. Econometrica 13(3): 245–259. https://doi.org/10.2307/1907187
Mo X, Wu JJ, Wang Q, et al. (2016) Variations in water storage in China over recent decades from GRACE observations and GLDAS. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 16: 469–482. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-469-2016
Oki T, Kanae S (2006) Global hydrological cycles and world water resources. Science 313(5790): 1068–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128845
Pan Y, Zhang C, Gong HL, et al. (2017) Detection of human-induced evapotranspiration using GRACE satellite observations in the Haihe River basin of China. Geophys Res Lett 44(1): 190–199. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071287
Park J, Choi M (2014) Estimation of evapotranspiration from ground-based meteorological data and global land data assimilation system (GLDAS). Stoc Environl Res Risk Assess 29: 1963–1992. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-014-1004-2
Pokhrel YN, Hanasaki N, Yeh PJF et al. (2012) Model estimates of sea-level change due to anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial water storage. Nature Geosci 5: 389–392. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1476
Porporato A, Rodriguez-Iturbe I (2002) Ecohydrology-a challenging multidisciplinary research perspective/Ecohydrologie: une perspective stimulante de recherche multidisciplinaire. Hydrol Sci J 47: 811–821. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626660209492985
Huang Y, Salama MS, Krol MS, et al. (2015) Estimation of human-induced changes in terrestrial water storage through integration of GRACE satellite detection and hydrological modeling: a case study of the Yangtze River basin. Water Resour Res 51: 8494–8516. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR016923
Rodell M, Famiglietti JS, Chen J, et al. (2004) Basin scale estimates of evapotranspiration using GRACE and other observations. Geophys Res Lett 31(20): L20504. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020873
Rodell M, Famiglietti JS, Wiese DN, et al. (2018) Emerging trends in global freshwater availability. Nature 557: 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1
Rodell M, Velicogna I, Famiglietti JS (2009) Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature 460: 999–1002. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08238
Save H, Bettadpur S, Tapley BD (2016) High-resolution CSR GRACE RL05 mascons. J Geophys Res-Sol Ea 121(10): 7547–7569. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013007
Shi SY, Yu JJ, Wang F, et al. (2021) Quantitative contributions of climate change and human activities to vegetation changes over multiple time scales on the Loess Plateau. Sci Total Environ 755, Part 2: 142419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142419
Shi Z, Xu LH, Yang XH, et al. (2017) Trends in reference evapotranspiration and its attribution over the past 50 years in the Loess Plateau, China: implications for ecological projects and agricultural production. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 31: 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-015-1203-5
Sun W, Song X, Mu X, et al. (2015) Spatiotemporal vegetation cover variations associated with climate change and ecological restoration in the Loess Plateau. Agric For Meteorol 209–210: 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.05.002
Sun Z, Liu Z, Cao X, et al. (2010) Variation characteristics of erosive rainfall on the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province. Bull Soil Water Conserv 30: 36–39+249+247. https://doi.org/10.13961/j.cnki.stbctb.2010.04.003
Sun ZL, Long D, Yang WT, et al. (2020) Reconstruction of GRACE data on changes in total water storage over the global land surface and 60 basins. Water Resour Res 56(4): e2019WR026250. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026250
Syed TH, Famiglietti JS, Rodell M, et al. (2008) Analysis of terrestrial water storage changes from GRACE and GLDAS. Water Resour Res 44(2): W02433. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005779
Tang Q, Zhang X, Tang Y (2013) Anthropogenic impacts on mass change in North China. Geophys Res Lett 40: 3924–3928. https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50790
Tregoning P, McClusky S, van Dijk AIJM (2012) Assessment of GRACE satellites for groundwater estimation in Australia, National Water Commission, Canberra, Waterlines Report Series No 71. http://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/101600?index=1
Wahr J, Molenaar M, Bryan F (1998) Time variability of the Earth’s gravity field: Hydrological and oceanic effects and their possible detection using GRACE. J Geophys Res 103(B12): 30205–30229. https://doi.org/10.1029/98JB02844
Wang L, Wang Q, Wei S, et al. (2008) Soil desiccation for Loess soils on natural and regrown areas. For Ecol Manag 255(7): 2467–2477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.01.006
Wu D, Xiang Z, Liang S, et al. (2015) Time-lag effects of global vegetation responses to climate change. Global Change Biol 21(9): 3520–3531. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12945
Wu LY, Zhang X, Hao FH, et al. (2020) Evaluating the contributions of climate change and human activities to runoff in typical semi-arid area, China. J Hydrol 590: 125555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125555
Xie XW, Xu CJ, Wen YM, et al. (2018) Monitoring groundwater storage changes in the Loess Plateau using GRACE satellite gravity data, Hydrological Models and Coal Mining Data. Remote Sens 10(4): 605. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040605
Xu Y, Gong HL, Chen BB, et al. (2021) Long-term and seasonal variation in groundwater storage in the North China Plain based on GRACE. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 104: 102560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2021.102560
Yan Z, Rui C, Lei Z (2022) The Effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities on groundwater in irrigation district. J Irrig Drain 41: 91–100. https://doi.org/10.13522/j.cnki.ggps.2021435
Yin J, Guo S, Yang Y, et al. (2022) Projection of droughts and their socioeconomic exposures based on terrestrial water storage anomaly over China. Sci China Earth Sci 65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9927-x
Zhang J, Zhang T, Lei Y, et al. (2015a) Streamflow regime variations following ecological management on the Loess Plateau, China. Forests 7(1): 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7010006
Zhang K, Kimball JS, Nemani RR, et al. (2015b) Vegetation greening and climate change promote multidecadal rises of global land evapotranspiration. Sci Rep 5: 15956. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03432-2
Zhang X, Li JB, Dong QJ, et al. (2022) Bridging the gap between GRACE and GRACE-FO using a hydrological model. Sci Total Environ 822: 153659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153659
Zhao AZ, Zhang AB, Liu XF, et al. (2018) Spatiotemporal changes of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and response to climate extremes and ecological restoration in the Loess Plateau, China. Theor Appl Climatol 132: 555–567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2107-8
Zhao X, Huang J, Wu P, et al. (2014) The dynamic effects of pastures and crop on runoff and sediments reduction at loess slopes under simulated rainfall conditions. Catena 119: 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.03.001
Zhou LM, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, et al. (2001) Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999. J Geophys Res-Atmos 106: 20069–20083. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD000115
Acknowledgments
This work was conducted with financial support from the Natural Science Basic Research Plan of Shaanxi Province (2023-JC-YB-275), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071144, 41971218), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Shaanxi Normal University (2021CBWY003), and the Special Scientific Research Project of Shaanxi Normal University (22YDYLZ002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization, Wang Cheng-xi, Yan Jian-wu and LIANG Wei; Methodology, WANG Cheng-xi; Software, WANG Cheng-xi; Formal analysis, WANG Cheng-xi, YAN Jian-wu; Investigation, WANG Cheng-xi, YAN Jian-wu; resources, WANG Cheng-xi; Data curation, WANG Cheng-xi; Writing—original draft preparation, WANG Cheng-xi and YAN Jian-wu; Writing—review and editing, WANG Cheng-xi, YAN Jian-wu, LIANG Wei, SUN Shao-bo, GOU Fen, LI Xiao-fei, LUO Yuan-yuan and WANG Feng-jiao; visualization, WANG Cheng-xi; Supervision, YAN Jian-wu, LIANG Wei, SUN Shao-bo, GOU Fen, LI Xiao-fei, LUO Yuan-yuan and WANG Feng-jiao; Project administration, YAN Jian-wu and LIANG Wei; Funding acquisition, YAN Jian-wu and LIANG Wei.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Cx., Yan, Jw., Liang, W. et al. Assessing the impacts of natural conditions and human activities on terrestrial water storage in Loess Plateau, China. J. Mt. Sci. 20, 1921–1939 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7821-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7821-8