Spatiotemporal distribution of snow cover and its variation in the upper reaches of the Taolai River basin，Qilian Mountains北大核心CSCD

Snow is an important part of the cryosphere and plays an important role in the hydrological cycle and energy balance. Study of the spatiotemporal characteristics of snow cover and its change is the prerequisite for analyzing the formation，distribution and variation of runoff from mountains in inland river basins. In this study，we selected the upper reaches of the Taolai River basin of Qilian Mountains as the study area，used down? scaling methods to obtain high-resolution snow depth data，and adopted methods of spatial statistics，sensitivity analysis and contribution separations to quantify snow cover distribution and variation influenced by terrain and the regional climate during the time period from 2002 to 2018. Results showed that basin early average snow depth ranged from 0 cm to 2. 5 cm，with variation from -0. 19 cm·a-1 to 0. 06 cm·a-1. The area of snow depth re? duction during the study period accounted for 68. 30% of the total area. It was found that the snow depth increase more with altitude and less with the increase of slope. Variation of snow depth increased below 2 500 m a. s. l. and decreased above 2 500 m a. s. l. As the slope increases，it first increases and then decreases；the snow depth of each aspect decreases，especially in the northwest orientation. The sensitivity of snow depth to air tempera? ture and solar radiation were found negative in general，while that of the precipitation was found positive. The precipitation in high-altitude areas has a relatively large contribution to the snow depth variation，while in the val? ley areas，the contribution of temperature to snow cover is more significant. This work provides an example for the study of snow dynamics in the upper reaches of inland river watersheds，and benefits model simulation and prediction of mountain runoff and regional water management. © 2023 The Author(s).