Classification of snow cover days in western China and comparison with satellite remote sensing data

The daily snow cover data from 232 meteorological stations to the west of 105°E in China for the period 1951–2004 were used to classify the snow cover and analyze decadal variations of snow cover types in western China, and comparison was made between the observational data and those retrieved from passive microwave remote sensing data (SMMR and SSM/I) in 1980–2004. The results show that stable snow-covered areas included northern Xinjiang, the Tianshan Mountains, and the eastern Tibetan Plateau with more than 60 snow cover days; no snow cover was found in the center of the southern Xinjiang Basin, the Sichuan Basin, and southern Yunnan. In addition to the above-mentioned, there were unstable snow-covered areas in western China. Furthermore, the snow cover types in northern Xinjiang, the Tianshan Mountains, the Hexi Corridor, and the vast areas from Chengdu to Kunming were unchanged. In the 1980s, the south-north dividing line between the major snow-covered area and snow-free area advanced to its most southern position. The snow cover days calculated from satellite remote sensing were generally longer than those from observational data in western China, mainly in the higher-altitude mountains, the Hexi Corridor, and the western Sichuan Plateau.     

中国能源消费与气候变化的关系

Energy consumption has an inevitable connection with economic level and climate. Based on selected data covering annual total energy consumption and its composition and that of all kinds of energy in 1953-1999, the annual residential energy consumption and the coal and electricity consumption in 1980-1999 in China, the acreage of crops under cultivation suffered from drought and flood annually and gross domestic product (GDP) in 1953-1999 in the whole country, and mean daily temperature data from 29 provincial meteorological stations in the whole country from 1970 to 1999, this paper divides energy consumption into socio-economic energy consumption and climatic energy consumption in the way of multinomial. Itchanges between the climate energy consumption andalso goes further into the relations and their changes between the climate energy consumptionenergy consumption and the economic level inand climate factor and between the socio-economic energy between the climate energy level in China with the method of statistical analysis. At present, there are obvious transitions in the changing relationships of the energy consumption to economy and climate, which comprises the transition of economic system from resource-intensive industry to technology-intensive industry and the transition of climatic driving factors of the energy consumption from driven by the disasters of drought and flood to driven by temperature.     

新疆气候时空变化特征及其趋势(英文)

Temperature and precipitation time series datasets from 1961 to 2005 at 65 meteorological stations were used to reveal the spatial and temporal trends of climate change in Xinjiang, China. Annual and seasonal mean air temperature and total precipitation were analyzed using Mann-Kendall (MK) test, inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation, and R/S methods. The results indicate that: (1) both temperature and precipitation increased in the past 45 years, but the increase in temperature is more obvious than that of precipitation; (2) for temperature increase, the higher the latitude and the higher the elevation the faster the increase, though the latitude has greater influence on the increase. Northern Xinjiang shows a faster warming than southern Xinjiang, especially in summer; (3) increase of precipitation occurs mainly in winter in northern Xinjiang and in summer in southern Xinjiang. Ili, which has the most precipitation in Xinjiang, shows a weak increase of precipitation; (4) although both temperature and precipitation increased in general, the increase is different inside Xinjiang; (5) Hurst index (H) analysis indicates that climate change will continue the current trends.     

近159年东亚夏季风年代际变化与中国东部旱涝分布(英文)

Based on the drought/flood grades of 90 meterological stations over eastern China and summer average sea-level pressure (SLP) during 1850–2008 and BPCCA statistical methods, the coupling relationship between the drought/flood grades and the East Asian summer SLP is analyzed. The East Asian summer monsoon index which is closely related with interdecadal variation of drought/flood distribution over eastern China is defined by using the key areas of SLP. The impact of the interdecadal variation of the East Asian summer monsoon on the distribution of drought/flood over eastern China in the last 159 years is researched. The results show that there are four typical drought and flood spatial distribution patterns in eastern China, i.e. the distribution of drought/flood in southern China is contrary to the other regions, the distribution of drought/flood along the Huanghe River–Huaihe River Valley is contrary to the Yangtze River Valley and regions south of it, the distribution of drought/flood along the Yangtze River Valley and Huaihe River Valley is contrary to the other regions, the distribution of drought/flood in eastern China is contrary to the western. The main distribution pattern of SLP in summer is that the strength of SLP is opposite in Asian continent and West Pacific. It has close relationship between the interdecadal variation of drought/flood distribution patterns over eastern China and the interdecadal variation of the East Asian summer monsoon which was defined in this paper, but the correlation is not stable and it has a significant difference in changes of interdecadal phase. When the East Asian summer monsoon was stronger (weaker), regions north of the Yangtze River Valley was more susceptible to drought (flood), the Yangtze River Valley and regions south of it were more susceptible to flood (drought) before the 1920s; when the East Asian summer monsoon was stronger (weaker), the regions north of the Yangtze River Valley was prone to flood (drought), the Yangtze River Valley and regions south of it were prone to drought (flood) after the 1920s. It is indicated that by using the data of the longer period could get much richer results than by using the data of the last 50–60 years. The differences in the interdecadal phase between the East Asian summer monsoon and the drought/flood distributions in eastern China may be associated with the nonlinear feedback, which is the East Asian summer monsoon for the extrinsic forcing of solar activity.     

中国近期主要农业自然灾害的时空变化分析(英文)

China is a disaster prone country, and a comprehensive understanding of change of disasters is very important for China’s agricultural development. In this study, statistical techniques and geographic information system tools are employed to quantify the main agriculture disasters changes and effects on grain production in China during the period of 1990–2011. The results show that China’s grain production was severely affected by disasters including drought, flood, hail, frost and typhoon. The annual area covered by these disasters reached up to 48.7×106 ha during the study period, which accounted for 44.8% of the total sown area, and about 55.1% of the per unit area grain yield change was caused by disasters. In addition, all of the disasters showed high variability, different changing trends, and spatial distribution. Drought, flood, and hail showed significantly decreasing trends, while frost and typhoon showed increasing trends. Drought and flood showed gradual changes and were distributed across the country, and disasters became more diversified from north to south. Drought was the dominated disaster type in northern China, while flood was the most important disaster type in the southern part. Hail was mainly observed in central and northern China, and frost was mainly distributed in southern China. Typhoon was greatly limited to the southeast coast. Furthermore, the resilience of grain production of each province was quite different, especially in several major grain producing areas, such as Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Jiangsu, where grain production was seriously affected by disasters. One reason for the difference of resilience of grain production was that grain production was marginalized in developed provinces when the economy underwent rapid development. For China’s agricultural development and grain security, we suggest that governments should place more emphasis on grain production, and invest more money in disaster prevention and mitigation, especially in the major grain producing provinces.     

2001-2013年华北地区植被覆盖度与干旱条件的相关分析（英文）

Climate change is one of the most important factors that affect vegetation distribution in North China. Among all climatic factors, drought is considered to have the most significant effect on the environment. Based on previous studies, the climate drought index can be used to assess the evolutionary trend of the ecological environment under various arid climatic conditions. It is necessary for us to further explore the relationship between vegetation coverage(index) and climate drought conditions. Therefore, in this study, based on MODIS-NDVI products and meteorological observation data, the Palmer Drought Severity Index(PDSI) and vegetation coverage in North China were first calculated. Then, the interannual variations of PDSI and vegetation coverage during 2001–2013 were analyzed using a Theil-Sen slope estimator. Finally, an ecoregion perspective of the correlation between them was discussed. The experimental results demonstrated that the PDSI index and vegetation coverage value varied over different ecoregions. During the period 2001–2013, vegetation coverage increased in the southern and northern mountains of North China, while it showed a decreasing trend in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan City Circle area and suburban agricultural zone located in Hebei Province and Henan Province). Over 13 years, the climate of the northeastern part of North China became more humid, while in the southern part of North China, it tended to be dry. According to the correlation analysis results, 73.37% of North China showed a positive correlation between the vegetation coverage and climate drought index. A negative correlation was observed mainly in urban and suburban areas of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province, and Henan Province. In most parts of North China, drought conditions in summer and autumn had a strong influence on vegetation coverage.     

Effect of climatic change on surface environments in the typical region of Horqin Sandy Land

The town of Agura,a typical region in Horqin Sandy Land,was selected as the study area in this paper.Using 12 remote sensing images and climatic data from the past 20 years,the effects of climate change on surface environments were analyzed.The impact indices of climatic factors,along with their corresponding ranks,were used to characterize the responses of different types of surface environments to climate change.Results show that in the past 20 years,the surface environments of the study area have been deteriorating.Furthermore,there is a positive relationship between the changes in surface environments and those in climatic factors.Various climatic factors influence surface environments in different ways and at different levels.The most sensitive factor is relative humidity,followed by precipitation and evaporation.Overall,moisture is the key factor that affects the changes in surface environments of arid and semi-arid areas.     

1961-2015年中国极端干旱时间演变特征（英文）

Understanding the past variations in extreme drought is especially beneficial to the improvement of drought resistance planning and drought risk management in China. Based on the monitoring data of meteorological stations from 1961 to 2015 and a meteorological drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index(SPEI), the spatio-temporal variations in extreme drought at inter-decadal, inter-annual and seasonal scales in China were analyzed. The results revealed that 12 months cumulative precipitation with 1/2 to 5/8 of average annual precipitation will trigger extreme drought. From the period 1961–1987 to the period 1988–2015, the mean annual frequency of extreme drought(FED) increased along a strip extending from southwest China(SWC) to the western part of northeast China(NEC). The increased FED showed the highest value in spring, followed by winter, autumn and summer. There was a continuous increase in the decadal-FED from the 1990 s to the 2010 s on the Tibetan Plateau(TP), the southeast China(SEC) and the SW. During the period 1961–2015, the number of continuous drought stations was almost the same among 4 to 6 months and among 10 to 12 months of continuous drought, respectively. It can be inferred that drought lasting 6 or 12 months may lead to more severe drought disasters due to longer duration. The range of the longest continuous drought occurred in the 21 st century had widely increased compared with that in the 1980 s and the 1990 s. Our findings may be helpful for water resources management and reducing the risk of drought disasters in China.     

新疆河流年径流量对夏季0℃层高度变化的响应(英文)

According to climate features and river runoff conditions,Xinjiang could be divided into three research areas:The Altay-Tacheng region,the Tianshan Mountain region and the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.Utilizing daily observations from 12 sounding stations and the annual runoff dataset from 34 hydrographical stations in Xinjiang for the period 1960-2002,the variance of the summertime 0℃ level height and the changing trends of river runoff are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively,through trend contrast of curves processed by a 5-point smoothing procedure and linear correlation.The variance of the summertime 0℃ level height in Xinjiang correlates well with that of the annual river runoff,especially since the early 1990s,but it differs from region to region,with both the average height of the 0℃ level and runoff quantity significantly increasing over time in the Altay-Tacheng and Tianshan Mountain regions but decreasing on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.The correlation holds for the whole of Xinjiang as well as the three individual regions,with a 0.01 significance level.This indicates that in recent years,climate change in Xinjiang has affected not only the surface layer but also the upper levels of the atmosphere,and this raising and lowering of the summertime 0℃ level has a direct impact on the warming and wetting process in Xinjiang and the amount of river runoff.Warming due to climate change increases the height of the 0℃ level,but also speeds up,ice-snow melting in mountain regions,which in turn increases river runoff,leading to a season of plentiful water instead of the more normal low flow period.     

The response of annual runoff to the height change of the summertime 0℃ level over Xinjiang

According to climate features and river runoff conditions, Xinjiang could be divided into three research areas: The Altay-Tacheng region, the Tianshan Mountain region and the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains. Utilizing daily observations from 12 sounding stations and the annual runoff dataset from 34 hydrographical stations in Xinjiang for the period 1960–2002, the variance of the summertime 0℃ level height and the changing trends of river runoff are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, through trend contrast of curves processed by a 5-point smoothing procedure and linear correlation. The variance of the summertime 0℃ level height in Xinjiang correlates well with that of the annual river runoff, especially since the early 1990s, but it differs from region to region, with both the average height of the 0℃ level and runoff quantity significantly increasing over time in the Altay- Tacheng and Tianshan Mountain regions but decreasing on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains. The correlation holds for the whole of Xinjiang as well as the three individual regions, with a 0.01 significance level. This indicates that in recent years, climate change in Xinjiang has affected not only the surface layer but also the upper levels of the atmosphere, and this raising and lowering of the summertime 0℃ level has a direct impact on the warming and wetting process in Xinjiang and the amount of river runoff. Warming due to climate change increases the height of the 0℃ level, but also speeds up, ice-snow melting in mountain regions, which in turn increases river runoff, leading to a season of plentiful water instead of the more normal low flow period.     

The integrated risk assessment and zoning of meteorological disaster in Heilongjiang Province of China

This paper describes studies on the integrated risk assessment and zoning of meteorological disaster in Heilongjiang Province,in northeastern China,by using information-diffusion theory and cluster method with 35 years of summer temperature and precipitation data from 74 meteorological stations from 1971 through 2005.The information-diffusion theory has been used extensively in risk assessment,yet almost no one has done research about risk assessment by information-diffusion theory based on meteorological disaster standards.Some research results are as follows:the risk probability of low temperature and cold damage in the northern region is higher than that in the southern region;the risk probability of general low temperature and cold damage in the southwestern region is the highest;the risk probability of serious low temperature and cold damage in the northern region is the highest,followed by the central and southeast region;the high-risk region of arid disaster in Heilongjiang Province was primarily located in the southwestern,central,and southern parts of the province;the high-intensity arid disaster was located in the south-eastern region;the high-risk region of flood in Heilongjiang Province was primarily located from the southwest and then across the central part to the western part of Heilongjiang Province;the high-intensity flood disasters were located in almost every part of Heilongjiang Province.We can conclude from the integrated meteorological disaster risk zoning that the high-risk region of mete-orological disaster is primarily located in the southern and northern part of the province,the moderate-risk region is distributed in the central southern region and western region,the low-risk region is located in the eastern part,and the light-risk region is located in the central western part of Heilongjiang Province.     

Sensitivity and areal differentiation of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics on the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province

The Qinling Mountains, located at the junction of warm temperate and subtropical zones, serve as the boundary between north and south China. Exploring the sensitivity of the response of vegetation there to hydrothermal dynamics elucidates the dynamics and mechanisms of the main vegetation types in the context of changes in temperature and moisture. Importance should be attached to changes in vegetation in different climate zones. To reveal the sensitivity and areal differentiation of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics, the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of the normalized vegetation index(NDVI) and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index(SPEI) on the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains from 2000 to 2018 are explored using the meteorological data of 32 meteorological stations and the MODIS NDVI datasets. The results show that: 1) The overall vegetation coverage of the Qinling Mountains improved significantly from 2000 to 2018. The NDVI rise rate and area ratio on the southern slope were higher than those on the northern slope, and the vegetation on the southern slope improved more than that on the northern slope. The Qinling Mountains showed an insignificant humidification trend. The humidification rate and humidification area of the northern slope were greater than those on the southern slope. 2) Vegetation on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains was more sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics than that on the southern slope. Vegetation was most sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics from March to June on the northern slope, and from March to May(spring) on the southern slope. The vegetation on the northern and southern slopes was mainly affected by hydrothermal dynamics on a scale of 3–7 months, responding weakly to hydrothermal dynamics on a scale of 11–12 months. 3) Some 90.34% of NDVI and SPEI was positively correlated in the Qinling Mountains. Spring humidification in most parts of the study area promoted the growth of vegetation all the year round. The sensitivity of vegetation responses to hydrothermal dynamics with increasing altitude increased first and then decreased. Elevations of 800 to 1200 m were the most sensitive range for vegetation response to hydrothermal dynamics. The sensitivity of the vegetation response at elevations of 1200–3000 m decreased with increasing altitude. As regards to vegetation type, grass was most sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics on both the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains; but most other vegetation types on the northern slope were more sensitive to hydrothermal dynamics than those on the southern slope.     

川渝地区气温随地形、经度和纬度的变化(英文)

Using the daily temperature data of 95 meteorological stations from Si-chuan-Chongqing Region and its surrounding areas, this paper adopted these methods (e.g., linear regression, trend coefficient, geographical statistics, gray relational analysis and spatial analysis functions of GIS) to analyze the relations of temperature variability with topography, latitude and longitude. Moreover, the rank of gray correlation between temperature variability and elevation, longitude, latitude, topographic position and surface roughness also was measured. These results indicated: (1) The elevation affected temperature variability most obviously, followed by latitude, and longitude. The slope of the linear regression between temperature change rate and elevation, latitude and longitude was 0.4142, 0.0293 and -0.3270, respectively. (2) The rank of gray correlation between temperature change rate and geographic factors was elevation > latitude > surface roughness > topographic position > longitude. The gray correla-tion degree between temperature change rate and elevation was 0.865, followed by latitude with 0.796, and longitude with 0.671. (3) The rate of temperature change enhanced with the increase of elevation. Especially, the warming trend was significant in the plateau and mountain areas of western Sichuan, and mountain and valley areas of southwestern Sichuan (with the warming rate of 0.74℃/10a during the 1990s). However, there was a weak warming trend in Sichuan Basin and its surrounding low mountain and hilly areas. (4) The effects of latitude on temperature change rate presented the specific regulation, which the warming rate of low-latitude areas was more significant than that of high-latitude areas. However, they were consistent with the regulation that the increasing of low temperature controlled most of the warming trend, due to the effects of terrain and elevation on annual mean temperature. (5) Ba-sically, temperature variability along longitude direction resulted from the regular change of elevation along longitude. It was suggested that, in Sichuan-Chongqing Region, special features of temperature variability largely depended on the terrain complexity (e.g., undulations, mutations and roughness). The elevation level controlled only high or low annual mean temperature and the range of temperature change rate in the macro sense.     

中国典型土地覆盖类型地表反照率的年内变化特征(英文)

Surface albedo is a primary causative variable associated with the process of surface energy exchange. Numerous studies have examined diurnal variation of surface albedo at a regional scale; however, few studies have analyzed the intra-annual variations of surface albedo in concurrence with different land cover types. In this study, we amalgamated surface albedo product data(MCD43) from 2001 to 2008, land-use data(in 2000 and 2008) and land cover data(in 2000); quantitative analyses of surface albedo variation pertaining to diverse land cover types and the effect of the presence/absence of ground snow were undertaken. Results indicate that intra-annual surface albedo values exhibit flat Gaussian or triangular distributions depending upon land cover types. During snow-free periods, satellite observed surface albedo associated with the non-growing season was lower than that associated with the growing season. Satellite observed surface albedo during the presence of ground snow period was 2–4 times higher than that observed during snow-free periods. Surface albedo reference values in typical land cover types have been calculated; notably, grassland, cropland and built-up land were associated with higher surface albedo reference values than barren while ground snow was present. Irrespective of land cover types, the lowest surface albedo reference values were associated with forested areas. Proposed reference values may prove extremely useful in diverse research areas, including ecological modeling, land surface process modeling and radiation energy balance applications.     

Historical drought and water disasters in the Weihe Plain

Through detailed statistics and analysis of drought and water disasters in the Weihe Plain in the historical period, we discovered that in more than 2300 years (from 370 BC to 2000 AD), natural disasters occurred most frequently in two periods. One is from 610 to 850 AD (from the late Sui Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty) and the other is from 1580 to 2000 AD (after the late Ming Dynasty). Different natural disasters occurred synchronously, that is to say, when the drought occurred frequently, water disasters occurred frequently in the same periods. Frequencies of natural disasters, on the one hand, connected with climate changes and development course of ancient cities, while on the other, related closely to population changes. The excessive exploitation of natural resources and human disturbance and damages to ecological environment are the major reasons for the increased drought and water disasters.     

近159年东亚夏季风年代际变化与中国东部旱涝分布(英文)

Based on the drought/flood grades of 90 meterological stations over eastern China and summer average sea-level pressure (SLP) during 1850–2008 and BPCCA statistical methods, the coupling relationship between the drought/flood grades and the East Asian summer SLP is analyzed. The East Asian summer monsoon index which is closely related with interdecadal variation of drought/flood distribution over eastern China is defined by using the key areas of SLP. The impact of the interdecadal variation of the East Asi...     

The relationship betwwen ENSO cycle and high and low—flow in the upper Yellow River

Firstly,the hydrological and meteorological features of the upper reaches of the Yellow River above Tangnag are analyzed based on observation data,and effects of El Nino and La Nina events on the high and low flow in the upper Yellow River are discussed.The results show El Nino and La Nina events possess consanguineous relationship with runoff in the upper Yellow River.As a whole,the probability of low flow occurrence in the upper Yellow River is relatively great along with the occurrence of El Nino event.Moreover,the flood in the upper Yellow River occurs frequently with the occurrence of La Nina event.Besides,the results also show dissimilarity of El Nino event occurring time exerts greater impact on high flow and low flow in the upper Yellow River,that is,the probability of drought will be greater in the same year if El Nino event occurs in spring,the high-flow may happen in this year if El Nino occurs in summer or autumn;the longer the continuous period of El Nino is,the lower the runoff in the upper Yellow River is.     

海河流域及周边地区太阳辐射变化成因

Solar radiation is an important driving force for the formation and evolution of climate system. Analysis of change in solar radiation is helpful in understanding mechanism of climate change. In this study, the temporal and spatial variations of solar radiation and the cause of the change in solar radiation have been analyzed based on meteorological data from 46 national meteorological stations and aerosol index data from TOMS over the Haihe River Basin and surrounding areas. The results have shown that solar radiation and direct radiation significantly decreased, while scattered radiation increased during the period 1957–2008. Spatially, the decreasing trend of solar radiation was more and more significant from low population density areas to high population density areas. The spatial distribution of increase in aerosol index is consistent with that of decrease in solar radiation. The increase in aerosols resulting from human activities was an important reason for the decrease in solar radiation.     

城市地表热通量遥感反演及与土地类型的关系(英文)

Using ASTER(Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiome-ter) infrared remote sensing data we inversed the parameters of urban surface heat fluxes applying the PCACA model and theoretical position algorithm,and then we analyzed the in-fluence of different land use types on the surface heat fluxes and energy balance.In this study,Kumagaya,a city in Saitama Prefecture,Japan,was selected as the experimental area.The result shows that the PCACA model is feasible for the surface heat fluxes estimation in urban areas because this model requires less parameters in the procedure of heat fluxes estimation in urban areas with complicated surface structure and can decrease the uncertainty.And we found that different land-use types have indicated the height heterogeneity on the surface heat fluxes significantly.The magnitudes of Bowen ratio in descending order are industrial,residential,transportation,institutional,dry farmland,green space,and water body.Under the same meteorological condition,there are distinct characteristics and regional differences in Bowen ratios among different surface covers,indicating higher sensible heat flux and lower latent heat flux in the urban construction land,while lower sensible heat flux and higher latent heat flux in the vegetation-covered area,the outskirt of the urban area.The increase of urban impervious surface area caused by the urban sprawl can enlarge the sensible heat flux and the Bowen ratio,so that it causes the increasing of urban surface temperature and air tem-perature,which is the mechanism of the so-called heat island effect.     

基于县域尺度的青藏高原牧区积雪雪灾风险分析(英文)

Snow disaster is one of the top ten natural disasters worldwide, and the most severe natural disaster to affect the pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Based on the hazard harmfulness data collected from historical records and data collected from entities affected by this hazard in 2010, a comprehensive analysis of the 18 indexes of snow disaster on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was conducted, encompassing the hazard harmfulness, the amount of physical exposure the hazard-bearing entities face, the sensitivity to the hazard, and the capacity to respond to the disaster. The analysis indicates that:(1) areas at high-risk of snow disaster on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are located in certain areas of the counties of Yecheng and Pishan in the Xinjiang region;(2) areas at medium-risk of snow disaster are found between the Gangdise Mountains and the Himalayas in the central-western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the southeastern part of the southern Qinghai Plateau;(3) the risk of snow disaster is generally low throughout the large area to the south of 30°N and the region on the border of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Overall, the risk of snow disaster in high-altitude areas of the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is higher than that at the edge of the plateau.