基于第二次冰川编目的中国冰川现状

以2004年之后的Landsat TM/ETM+和ASTER遥感影像为基础,参考第一次中国冰川目录及其他文献资料,经过影像校正、自动解译、野外考察、人工修订、交互检查和成果审定等技术环节,完成占全国冰川总面积85.5%的现状冰川编目,确定中国目前共有冰川48571条,总面积约5.18×10⁴βkm²,约占全国国土面积的0.54%,冰川储量约4.3~4.7×10³βkm³。中国冰川数量和面积分别以面积<0.5βkm²的冰川和面积介于1.0~50.0βkm²的冰川为主,面积最大的冰川是音苏盖提冰川（359.05βkm²）。中国西部14座山系（高原）均有冰川分布,其中昆仑山冰川数量最多,其次是天山、念青唐古拉山、喜马拉雅山和喀喇昆仑山,这5座山系冰川数量占全国冰川总数量的72.3%;冰川面积和冰储量位列前3位的山系分别为昆仑山、念青唐古拉山和天山,尽管喀喇昆仑山冰川数量和面积均小于喜马拉雅山,但前者冰储量高于后者。从冰川海拔分布来看,海拔4500~6500βm之间是冰川集中发育区域,约占全国冰川总面积的4/5以上。冰川资源在各流域分布差异显著,东亚内流区（5Y）是中国冰川分布数量最多、面积最大的一级流域,约占全国冰川总量的2/5以上;黄河流域（5J）是冰川数量最少、规模最小的一级流域,仅有冰川164条,面积126.72βkm²。新疆和西藏的冰川面积和冰储量约占全国冰川总面积的9/10。

The contemporary glaciers in China based on the Second Chinese Glacier Inventory

The Second Chinese Glacier Inventory (SCGI) was compiled based on remote sensing images after 2004 including Landsat TM/ETM+ and ASTER images, and the digital elevation models (DEMs) from SRTM. The SCGI shows that there are 48,571 glaciers with a total area of 5.18×10⁴ km² and ice volume of 4.3×10³-4.7×10³ km³ in China (including glaciers measured from 1:50,000 or 1:100,000 topographic maps made from the 1960s to the 1980s because of no high quality remote sensing images for the contemporary glacier inventories). The number of glaciers with the area below 0.5 km² reaches 33,061 and accounts for the majority part (66.07%) of glaciers in China. Glaciers with areas between 1.0 km² and 50.0 km² are totaled as ~3.40×10⁴ km² (~2.65×10³ km³ in ice volume) and constitute the main part of glaciers in China. The Yengisogat Glacier (359.05 km²), located in the Shaksgam Valley, north slope of the Karakoram Mountain, is the largest glacier in China. The glaciers are spatially distributed in 14 mountains and plateaus in western China. The Kunlun Mountains has the largest number of glaciers in China, followed by Tianshan Mountains, Nyainqêntanglha Range, the Himalayas and Karakoram. Glaciers in the above five mountains account for 72.26% of the total glacier number in China, however, over 55% of the total area of glaciers and 59% of the total ice storage in China are concentrated in the Kunlun Mountains, Nyainqêntanglha Range and Tianshan Mountains. The number and area of glaciers in Karakoram Mountains are less than those in the Himalayas, but the volume of the former is more than that of the latter because the glaciers in the Karakoram are generally larger. Some 4/5 of the total area of glaciers in China is mainly distributed in an altitudinal band between 4500-6500 m a.s.l. with regional differences depending on the general elevations of various mountains. Analogously, there is an obvious difference of glaciers in basins. The first level basin having the most glaciers is the East Asia interior drainage area (5Y) which occupies ~40% of glaciers in China. The Yellow River basin (5J) has the fewest glaciers where only 164 with an area of 126.72 km² are distributed. Xinjiang and Xizang autonomous regions are the two provincial units rich in glaciers, with ~9/10 of the total area and ice storage of glaciers in China.