Abstract Joint monitoring of the variations of glaciers and lakes within a basin is essential for an accurate understanding of region-wide climate change and the water cycle process. The central Kunlun-KekeXili region is an ideal experimental field due to the wide distribution of glaciers and lakes. In this study, we first investigated the glacier mass balance of 2000–2015/16 for seven major glacier clusters by utilizing high-resolution SPOT-6/7 stereo imagery and the SRTM DEM. The final results revealed an overall mass balance of −0.16 ± 0.05 m w.e./a. for the study region (with a total glacier area of 967 km2). Secondly, ICESat/GLAS altimetry data were used to quantify the water-level change of 2003–2008/09 for the two largest glacier-fed closed lakes (i.e., LexieWudan Lake and KekeXili Lake) in this region. Based on this, we applied a strategy which establishes the statistical relationship between the lake area change and the lake water-level change for 2003–2008/09 to estimate the specific water level using the corresponding lake area. We then further calculated the variation in lake water storage between 2000 and 2015. The results showed that the water storage of LexieWudan Lake and KekeXili Lake increased by 1.82 ± 0.14 km3 and 1.90 ± 0.38 km3, respectively. For each lake basin, meanwhile, the glaciers lost −0.18 ± 0.03 km3 and −0.21 ± 0.04 km3 of water, accounting for 9.9% and 11.1% of the increase in lake water storage for LexieWudan Lake and KekeXili Lake, respectively. Our results not only demonstrate that glacier meltwater has only a limited impact on the lake expansion in this region, but they also provide new evidence for the warming and wetting process of the climate in the northern part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.

中文翻译：

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多源遥感数据量化2000-2015年昆仑中部冰川质量变化及其对湖泊增长的贡献

摘要 流域内冰川和湖泊变化的联合监测对于准确了解区域气候变化和水循环过程至关重要。中部昆仑-可可西丽地区冰川和湖泊分布广泛，是理想的试验田。在这项研究中，我们首先利用高分辨率 SPOT-6/7 立体图像和 SRTM DEM 研究了 2000-2015/16 年七个主要冰川群的冰川质量平衡。最终结果显示总体质量平衡为 -0.16 ± 0.05 m we/a。为研究区（冰川总面积为 967 平方公里）。其次，利用ICESat/GLAS测高数据量化了该地区两个最大的冰川补给闭湖（即乐谢武丹湖和可可西丽湖）2003-2008/09年的水位变化。基于此，我们应用了一种策略，建立了 2003-2008/09 年湖泊面积变化与湖泊水位变化之间的统计关系，以使用相应的湖泊面积来估算特定水位。然后我们进一步计算了2000-2015年湖泊蓄水量的变化。结果表明，乐谢武丹湖和可可西丽湖的蓄水量分别增加了1.82±0.14 km3和1.90±0.38 km3。同时，每个湖盆冰川损失-0.18±0.03 km3和-0.21±0.04 km3水，分别占乐谢武丹湖和可可西丽湖湖泊蓄水量增加的9.9%和11.1%。我们的结果不仅表明冰川融水对该地区湖泊扩张的影响有限，