Changes in water storage of the lakes at the Tibetan Plateau are regarded as one of the most critical indicators of regional hydrological response to climate change. Different to the conventional hydrological approaches, in this study, we investigate the storage change of four lakes basing on a conceptual lake storage model and the most recent (2001-2016) available satellite observation that cover the lakes. The water surface areas and water levels are derived from MODIS and LEGOS altimetry data, respectively. Based on the regression function between water level and lake area, the net water budgets of the four lakes are estimated for the period. The results show that the storage of Ziling Co rose the fastest at the rate of 8.24 billion m~3/a in the past decades, and the rising rate of Qinghai lake has also reached 4.5billion m~3/a. The Ngoring Lake which located in the same region with Qinghai Lake changed fluctuatingly, but the water storage has risen 4.9 billion m~3 from 2001 to 2016. The water storage of Dogaicoring QC increased steadily at the rate of 1.2 billion m~3/a.
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