Linking Critical Zone With Watershed Science: The Example of the Heihe River Basin

Li，Xin1; Cheng，Guodong2,3; Fu，Bojie4; Xia，Jun5; Zhang，Ling2; Yang，Dawen6; Zheng，Chunmiao7; Liu，Shaomin8; Li，Xiubin9; Song，Changqing8; Kang，Shaozhong10; Li，Xiaoyan8; Che，Tao2; Zheng，Yi7; Zhou，Yanzhao1; Wang，Haibo2; Ran，Youhua2

2022-11-01

10.1029/2022EF002966

Earth's Future   Impact Factor & Quartile

2328-4277

Watersheds are the basic unit of Earth's terrestrial systems and are therefore ideal units for the study of critical zones (CZs). However, grand challenges remain regarding the observation, modeling, and management of CZs and watershed systems. We synthesize the progress and breakthroughs associated with watershed science and CZ research in the Heihe River basin (HRB), a large-scale endorheic river basin with unique mountain cryosphere-oasis-desert landscapes and prominent human-nature competition for water resources. The HRB observation system consists of mountain cryosphere, agricultural oasis, and natural oasis observatories and is promoted by large-scale comprehensive experiments to achieve multiscale observations. A watershed system model that couples ecohydrological models with socioeconomic models is developed to investigate the complex interactions among water, ecology, and socioeconomics in the HRB. The model is embedded in a decision support system to bridge science and decision-making and to better serve river basin sustainability. Significant progress and breakthroughs have been made in CZ and watershed process research (e.g., cryospheric hydrological processes, ecological and hydrological interactions, and surface-groundwater interactions) in the HRB. Nevertheless, observation and modeling of geochemical and geomorphological processes in the CZ have not been well addressed in integrated watershed studies of the HRB. In the future, new observation technologies, agent-based models, machine learning, and data assimilation will benefit both watershed science and CZ science and help to address complexity and dynamics in the CZ at the river basin scale. Overall, the HRB has successfully demonstrated how an experimental river basin can link CZ science with watershed science.

critical zone data assimilation Heihe River Basin observation remote sensing watershed science watershed system model

SCI

English

Others

National Natural Science Foundation of China[41988101];

Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Geology ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Environmental Sciences ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

WOS:000885872700001

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION

2-s2.0-85143225157

Scopus

1.State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System,Environment and Resources,National Tibetan Plateau Data Center,Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China
2.Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou,China
3.Institute of Urban Study,Shanghai Normal University,Shanghai,China
4.State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China
5.State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science,Wuhan University,Wuhan,China
6.Department of Hydraulic Engineering,State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering,Tsinghua University,Beijing,China
7.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
8.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology,Beijing Normal University,Beijing,China
9.Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China
10.Center for Agricultural Water Research in China,China Agricultural University,Beijing,China

Li，Xin,Cheng，Guodong,Fu，Bojie,et al. Linking Critical Zone With Watershed Science: The Example of the Heihe River Basin[J]. Earth's Future,2022,10(11).

Li，Xin.,Cheng，Guodong.,Fu，Bojie.,Xia，Jun.,Zhang，Ling.,...&Ran，Youhua.(2022).Linking Critical Zone With Watershed Science: The Example of the Heihe River Basin.Earth's Future,10(11).

Li，Xin,et al."Linking Critical Zone With Watershed Science: The Example of the Heihe River Basin".Earth's Future 10.11(2022).