Propagation characteristics from meteorological drought to agricultural drought over the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

In the context of global warming,drought events occur frequently.In order to better understanding the process and mechanism of drought occurrence and evolution,scholars have dedicated much attention on drought propagation,mainly focusing on drought propagation time and propagation probability.However,there are relatively few studies on the sensitivities of drought propagation to seasons and drought levels.Therefore,we took the Heihe River Basin(HRB)of Northwest China as the case study area to quantify the propagation time and propagation probability from meteorological drought to agricultural drought during the period of 1981–2020,and subsequently explore their sensitivities to seasons(irrigation and non-irrigation seasons)and drought levels.The correlation coefficient method and Copula-based interval conditional probability model were employed to determine the drought propagation time and propagation probability.The results determined the average drought propagation time as 8 months in the whole basin,which was reduced by 2 months(i.e.,6 months)on average during the irrigation season and prolonged by 2 months(i.e.,10 months)during the non-irrigation season.Propagation probability was sensitive to both seasons and drought levels,and the sensitivities had noticeable spatial differences in the whole basin.The propagation probability of agricultural drought at different levels generally increased with the meteorological drought levels for the upstream,midstream,and southern downstream regions of the HRB.Lesser agricultural droughts were more likely to be triggered during the irrigation season,while severer agricultural droughts were occurred mostly during the non-irrigation season.The research results are helpful to understand the characteristics of drought propagation and provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of droughts.This study is of great significance for the rational planning of local water resources and maintaining good ecological environment in the HRB.

Groundwater Recharge and Mixing in Arid and Semiarid Regions:Heihe River Basin,Northwest China

A sound understanding of groundwater recharged from various sources occurring at different time scales is crucial for water management in arid and semi-arid river basins. Groundwater recharge sources and their geochemical evolution are investigated for the Heihe River Basin （HRB） in northwest China on the basis of a comprehensive compilation of geochemical and isotopic data. Geochemical mass- balance modeling indicates that mountain-block recharge accounts for a small fraction （generally less than 5%） of the shallow and deep groundwater sustaining the oasis, whereas infiltration of rivers and irrigation water contribute most of the groundwater recharge. Dedolomitization is the primary process responsible for the changes in groundwater chemical and carbon isotope compositions from the piedmont to the groundwater discharge zone, where the dedolomitization is very likely enhanced by modern agricultural activities affecting the shallow groundwater quality. Analysis of radioactive isotopes suggests that these primary recharge sources occur at two different time scales. Radiocarbon-derived groundwater age profiles indicate a recharge rate of approximately 12 mm/year, which probably occurred during 2000-7000 years B.P., corresponding to the mid-Holocene humid period. The recharge of young groundwater on the tritium-dated time scale is much higher, about 360 mm/year in the oasis region. Infiltration from irrigation canals and irrigation return flow are the primary contributors to the increased young groundwater recharge. This study suggests that groundwater chemistry in the HRB has been influenced by the complex interaction between natural and human-induced geochemical processes and that anthropogenic effects have played a more significant role in terms of both groundwater quantity and quality.

Spatiotemporal variations of maximum seasonal freeze depth in 1950s–2007 over the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Investigation on spatiotemporal variations of maximum seasonal freeze depth （MSFD） over the Heihe River Basin is of great importance for systematic understanding of regional climate and environmental change, ecological-hydrological processes, water resources assessment, construction and resource development. Based on soil and air temperatures at the meteorological stations of the China Meteorological Administration （CMA） over the Heihe River Basin, MSFDs time series are structured into a composite time series over the 1960-2007 period. Evaluating the averaged MSFD time series for 1960 2007 reveals a statistically significant trend of 4.0 cm/decade or a net change of-19.2 cm for the 48-year period over the basin. The MSFD had significantly negative correlation with mean annual air temperature （MAAT）, winter air temperature, mean annual ground surface temperature （MAGST）, degree days of thawing for the air （DDTa） as well as for the surface （DDTs）, and degree days of freezing for the surface （DDFs）. While there was significantly positive correlation between DDF,. and MSFD time series, MSFD was deeper and changed greatly in the Heihe River source area. It was shallower in the east-central basin and gradually deepened in other sections of the basin. The MSFD distribution pattern in 2003-2005 is consistent with that of averaged degree days of freezing for air （DDFa） in 1960-2007. However, the maximum of MSFD may not be accurate, because there is no long term observation data in the deep seasonally frozen ground regions near the lower boundary of permafrost. With increasing elevation, averaged DDFa increased at a rate of 51.6 ℃-day/100m, therefore, the MSFG and the date reaching MSFG became deeper and later, respectively.

Hydrological Process Factors Analysis of Heihe River Mountain Basin Based on GIS

Hydrological process factors are a reflection of the physical mechanism of basin hydrology,which can provide important basis for the use and protection of water resources.Taking Heihe River Mountain Basin as the study area,the hydrological simulation was made based on SWAT-GIS integrated model platform.The calculation methods of hydrological process factors using SWAT model were described based on the simulation results of runoff from 1990 to 2000.Hydrological process factors in the study area were analyzed by using GIS technology.The spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation,runoff,infiltration,evapotranspiration and snowmelt in the basin were calculated and analyzed.

Impact of land use change on water resource allocation in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin in northwestern China

In recent decades, China has been experiencing rapid economic development, population growth and urbanization. These processes have stressed the shortages of water resources in China, especially in the arid re- gions of northwestern China. In order to sustain the expanding cropland, people increased groundwater exploitation in these regions. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the changes in land use and water resources, and their relationship in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, a typical inland river basin in northwest China. The data of land use change were interpreted using aerial photographs （1965） and Landsat TM images （1986 and 2007）. The data of irrigation water volume in the irrigation districts were spatialized in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin. The spatial variation of the groundwater depth was interpolated using the geo- statistical method. The results showed that the cultivated cropland area along oasis fringe increased by 15.38% and 43.60% during the periods 1965-1986 and 1986-2007, respectively. Surface water amount for irrigation had almost doubled from 1956 to 2010. The decrease of grassland area mainly occurred at the alluvial fan in front of the Qilian Mountains, with 36.47% during 1965-1986 and 38.56% during 1986-2007, respectively. The groundwater depth in front of the mountain constantly increased from 1986 to 2007. We found that the overuse of surface water and overexploitation of groundwater had direct consequences on the natural environments. We suggests that the efficiency of surface water resources use among different irrigation distdcts needs to be improved, which will significantly ease the conflicts between increasing water demand for irrigation and a shortage of water resources in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin.

Desertification dynamic and the relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification in the Heihe River Basin based on NPP

Relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification are the hotspot of research on desertification dynamic and its driving mechanism.To overcome the shortcomings of existing studies,this paper selected net primary productivity （NPP） as an indicator to analyze desertification dynamic and its impact factors.In addition,the change trends of actual NPP,potential NPP and HNPP （human appropriation of NPP,the difference between potential NPP and actual NPP） were used to analyze the desertification dynamic and calculate the relative roles of climate change,human activities and a combination of the two factors in desertification.In this study,the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS）-Normalised Difference Vegetation Index （NDVI） and meteorological data were utilized to drive the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach （CASA） model to calculate the actual NPP from 2001 to 2010 in the Heihe River Basin.Potential NPP was estimated using the Thornthwaite Memorial model.Results showed that 61％ of the whole basin area underwent land degradation,of which 90.5％ was caused by human activities,8.6％ by climate change,and 0.9％ by a combination of the two factors.On the contrary,1.5％ of desertification reversion area was caused by human activities and 90.7％ by climate change,the rest 7.8％ by a combination of the two factors.Moreover,it was demonstrated that 95.9％ of the total actual NPP decrease was induced by human activities,while 69.3％ of the total actual NPP increase was caused by climate change.The results revealed that climate change dominated desertification reversion,while human activities dominated desertification expansion.Moreover,the relative roles of both climate change and human activities in desertification possessed great spatial heterogeneity.Additionally,ecological protection policies should be enhanced in the Heihe River Basin to prevent desertification expansion under the condition of climate change.

Intra-annual stem diameter growth of Tamarix ramosissima and association with hydroclimatic factors in the lower reaches of China's Heihe River

High-resolution observations of cambial phenology and intra-annual growth dynamics are useful approaches for understanding the response of tree growth to climate and environmental change. During the past two decades, rapid socioeconomic development has increased the demand for water resources in the oases of the middle reaches of the Heihe River in northwestern China, and the lower reaches of the Heihe River have changed from a perennial river to an ephemeral stream with a decreased and degraded riparian zone. Tamarisk（Tamarix ramosissima） is the dominant shrub species of the desert riparian forest. In this study, the daily and seasonal patterns of tamarisk stem diameter growth, including the main period of tree ring formation, were examined. Observations concerning the driving forces of growth changes, along with implications for the ecology of the dendrohydrological area and management of desert riparian forests in similar arid regions, are also presented. The diurnal-seasonal activity of stem diameter and the dynamics of growth ring formation were studied using a point dendrometer and micro-coring methods during the 2012 growing season in shrub tamarisk in a desert riparian forest stand in the lower reaches of the Heihe River in Ejin Banner, Inner Mongolia of northwestern China. Generally, the variation in diurnal diameter of tamarisk was characterized by an unstable multi-peak pattern, with the cumulative stem diameter growth over the growing season following an S-shaped curve. The period from late May to early August was the main period of stem diameter growth and growth-ring formation. Among all of the hydroclimatic factors considered in this study, only groundwater depth was significantly correlated with stem diameter increment during this period. Therefore, for the dendrochronological study, the annual rings of the tamarisk can be used to reconstruct processes that determine the regional water regime, such as river runoff and fluctuations in groundwater depth. For the management of desert riparian forests, suitable groundwater depths must be maintained in the spring and summer to sustain tree health and a suitable stand structure.

Simulation of hydrological processes of mountainous watersheds in inland river basins: taking the Heihe Mainstream River as an example

The hydrological processes of mountainous watersheds in inland river basins are complicated.It is absolutely significant to quantify mountainous runoff for social,economic and ecological purposes.This paper takes the mountainous watershed of the Heihe Mainstream River as a study area to simulate the hydrological processes of mountainous watersheds in inland river basins by using the soil and water assessment tool(SWAT)model.SWAT simulation results show that both the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency and the determination coefficient values of the calibration period(January 1995 to December 2002)and validation period(January 2002 to December 2009)are higher than 0.90,and the percent bias is controlled within±5%,indicating that the simulation results are satisfactory.According to the SWAT performance,we discussed the yearly and monthly variation trends of the mountainous runoff and the runoff components.The results show that from 1996 to 2009,an indistinctive rising trend was observed for the yearly mountainous runoff,which is mainly recharged by lateral flow,and followed by shallow groundwater runoff and surface runoff.The monthly variation demonstrates that the mountainous runoff decreases slightly from May to July,contrary to other months.The mountainous runoff is mainly recharged by shallow groundwater runoff in January,February,and from October to December,by surface runoff in March and April,and by lateral flow from May to September.

Temporal variations of reference evapotranspiration and its sensitivity to meteorological factors in Heihe River Basin, China

On the basis of daily meteorological data from 15 meteorological stations in the Heihe River Basin （HRB） during the period from 1959 to 2012, long-term trends of reference evapotranspiration （ET0） and key meteorological factors that affect ET0 were analyzed using the Mann- Kendall test. The evaporation paradox was also investigated at 15 meteorological stations. In order to explore the contribution of key meteo- rological factors to the temporal variation of ET0, a sensitivity coefficient method was employed in this study. The results show that： （1） mean annual air temperature significantly increased at all 15 meteorological stations, while the mean annual ET0 decreased at most of sites; （2） the evaporation paradox did exist in the HRB, while the evaporation paradox was not continuous in space and time; and （3） relative humidity was the most sensitive meteorological factor with regard to the temporal variation of ET0 in the HRB, followed by wind speed, air temperature, and solar radiation. Air temperature and solar radiation contributed most to the temporal variation of ETo in the upper reaches; solar radiation and wind speed were the determining factors for the temporal variation of ET0 in the middle-lower reaches.

Assessment of wetland fragmentation in the middle reaches of the Heihe River by the type change tracker model

The quantitative research of wetland landscape fragmentation in the middle reaches of the Heihe River is important for the wetland and oasis sustainable development in the Hexi Corridor. Based on the data of remote sensing and GIS, we constructed the type change tracker model with sliding window technique and spatially mor- phological rule. The suitable scale and optimum scale of the fragmentation model of wetland landscape in the middle reaches of the Heihe River were determined by the area frequency statistics method, Chi-square distribution normal- ized scale variance, fractal dimension and diversity index. By integrating type change tracker model and the optimum scale with GIS spatial analysis, the spatial distribution characteristics of wetland landscape fragmentation in different periods and the related spatial-temporal change process were clarified. The results showed that （1） the type change tracker model, which analyzes the spatial pattern of wetland fragmentation on the pixel level, is better than the tradi- tional wetland fragmentation analysis on the landscape and patch levels; （2） The suitable scale for the wetland frag- mentation ranged from 150 rex150 m to 450 mx450 m and the optimum scale was 250 mx250 m in the middle reaches of the Heihe River; and （3） In the past 35 years, the total wetland area decreased by 23.2% and the frag- mentatJon of wetland markedly increased in the middle reaches of the Heihe River. The areas of core wetlands re- duced by 12.8% and the areas of perforated, edge and patch wetlands increased by 0.8%, 3.1% and 8.9%, respec- tively. The process of wetland fragmentation in the research region showed the order of core wetland, perforated or edge wetland, patch wetland or non-wetland. The results of this study would provide a reference for the protection, utilization and restoration of limited wetland resources and for the sustainable development of the regional eco-environment in the Heihe River Basin.

Recent Changes in Precipitation Extremes in the Heihe River Basin,Northwest China

Changes in rainfall extremes pose a serious and additional threat to water resources planning and management, natural and artificial oasis stability, and sustainable development in the fragile ecosystems of arid inland river basins. In this study, the trend and temporal variation of extreme precipitation are analyzed using daily precipitation datasets at 11 stations over the arid inland Heihe River basin in Northwest China from 1960 to 2011. Eight indices of extreme precipitation are studied. The results show statistically significant and large-magnitude increasing and decreasing trends for most indices, primarily in the Qilian Mountains and eastern Hexi Corridor. More frequent and intense rainfall extremes have occurred in the southern part of the desert area than in the northern portion. In general, the temporal variation in precipitation extremes has changed throughout the basin. Wet day precipitation and heavy precipitation days show statistically significant linear increasing trends and step changes in the Qilian Mountains and Hexi Corridor. Consecutive dry days have decreased obviously in the region in most years after approximately the late 1980s, but meanwhile very long dry spells have increased, especially in the Hexi Corridor. The probability density function indicates that very long wet spells have increased in the Qilian Mountains. The East Asian summer monsoon index and western Pacific subtropical high intensity index possess strong and significant negative and positive correlations with rainfall extremes, respectively. Changes in land surface characteristics and the increase in water vapor in the wet season have also contributed to the changes in precipitation extremes over the river basin.

Analysis of Water Resources Supply and Demand and Security of Water Resources Development in Irrigation Regions of the Middle Reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Based on the data for meteorology, hydrology, soil, planting, vegetation, and socio-economic development of the irrigation region in the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, Northwest China, the model of balance of water supply and demand in the region was established, and the security of water resource was assessed, from which the results that the effects of unified management of water resources in the Heihe River basin between Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia on regional hydrology are significant with a decrease in water supply diverted from Heihe River and an increase in groundwater extracted. In addition, it was found that the groundwater level has been steadily decreasing due to over pumping and decrease in recharges. In present year （2003）, the volume of potential groundwater in the irrigation districts is far small because of the groundwater overdraft; even in the particular regions, there is no availability of groundwater resources for use. By 2003, water supply is not sufficient to meet the water demand in the different irrigation districts, the sustainable development and utilization of water resources are not secured, and the water supply crisis occurs in Pingchuan irrigation district. Achieving water security for the sustainable development of society, agriculture, economy, industry, and livelihoods while maintaining or improving the abilities of the management and planning of water resources, determining of the reasonable percentage between water supply and groundwater utilization and water saving in agricultural irrigation are taken into account. If this does not occur, it is feared that the present performance of water development and planning may further aggravate the problem of scarcities of water resources and further damage the fragile ecological system.

Understanding the impact of mountain landscapes on water balance in the upper Heihe River watershed in northwestern China

Estimating the impact of mountain landscape on hydrology or water balance is essential for the sus- tainable development strategies of water resources. Specifically, understanding how the change of each landscape influences hydrological components will greatly improve the predictability of hydrological responses to mountain landscape changes and thus can help the government make sounder decisions. In the paper, we used the VIC （Variable Infiltration Capacity） model to conduct hydrological modeling in the upper Heihe River watershed, along with a frozen-soil module and a glacier melting module to improve the simulation. The improved model performed satisfactorily. We concluded that there are differences in the runoff generation of mountain landscape both in space and time. About 50% of the total runoff at the catchment outlet were generated in mid-mountain zone （2,900-4,000 m asl）, and water was mainly consumed in low mountain region （1,700-2,900 m asl） because of the higher requirements of trees and grasses. The runoff coefficient was 0.37 in the upper Heihe River watershed. Barren landscape produced the largest runoff yields （52.46% of the total runoff） in the upper Heihe River watershed, fol- lowed by grassland （34.15%）, shrub （9.02%）, glacier （3.57%）, and forest （0.49%）. In order to simulate the impact of landscape change on hydrological components, three landscape change scenarios were designed in the study. Scenario 1, 2 and 3 were to convert all shady slope landscapes at 2,000-3,300 m, 2,000-3,700 m, and 2,000-4,000 m asl respectively to forest lands, with forest coverage rate increased to 12.4%, 28.5% and 42.0%, respectively. The runoff at the catchment outlet correspondingly declined by 3.5%, 13.1% and 24.2% under the three scenarios. The forest landscape is very important in water conservation as it reduced the flood peak and increased the base flow. The mountains as ＂water towers＂ play important roles in water resources generation and the impact of mountain landscapes on hydrology is significant.

Impact of climate change and variability on water resources in Heihe River Basin

Studies indicate that the climate has experienced a dramatic change in the Heihe River Basin with scope of temperature rise reaching 0.5-1.1 o C in the 1990s compared to the mean value of the period 1960-1990, precipitation increased 18.5 mm in the 1990s compared to the 1950s, and 6.5 mm in the 1990s compared to the mean value of the period 1960-1990, water resources decreased 2.6×10 8 m 3 in the 1990s compared to the 1950s, and 0.4×10 8 m 3 in the 1990s compared to the mean value of the period 1960-1990. These changes have exerted a greater effect on the local environment and socio-economy, and also made the condition worsening in water resources utilizations in the Heihe Rver Basin.

Impacts of land use changes on groundwater resources in the Heihe River Basin

Land use and land cover changes have a great impact on the regional hydrological process. Based on three periods of remote sensing data from the 1960s and the long-term observed data of groundwater from the 1980s, the impacts of land use changes on the groundwater system in the middle reach of Heihe River Basin in recent three decades are analyzed by the perspective of groundwater recharge and discharge system. The results indicate that with the different intensities of land use changes, the impacts on the groundwater recharge were 2.602 × 10^8 m^3/a in the former 15 years （1969-1985） and 0.218 × 10^8 m^3/a in the latter 15 years （1986-2000）, and the impacts on the groundwater discharge were 2.035 × 10^8 m^3/a and 4.91 × 10^8 m^3/a respectively. When the groundwater exploitation was in a reasonable range less than 3.0 × 10^8 m^3/a, the land use changes could control the changes of regional groundwater resources. Influenced by the land use changes and the large-scale exploitation in the recent decade, the groundwater resources present apparently regional differences in Zhangye region. Realizing the impact of land use changes on groundwater system and the characteristics of spatial-temporal variations of regional groundwater resources would be very important for reasonably utilizing and managing water and soil resources.

Tree-ring-based reconstruction of temperature variability(1445–2011) for the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Long-term temperature variability has significant effects on runoff into the upper reaches of inland rivers. This paper developed a tree-ring chronology of Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) from the upper tree-line of the middle Qilian Mountains within the upper reaches of Heihe River Basin, Northwest China for a long-term reconstruction of temperature at the study site. In this paper, tree-ring chronology was used to examine climate-growth associations considering local climate data obtained from Qilian Meteorological Station. The results showed that temperatures correlated extremely well with standardized growth indices of trees (r=0.564, P<0.001). Tree-ring chronology was highest correlated with annual mean temperature (r=0.641, P<0.0001). Annual mean temperature which spans the period of 1445–2011 was reconstructed and explained 57.8% of the inter-annual to decadal temperature variance at the regional scale for the period 1961–2011. Spatial correlation patterns revealed that reconstructed temperature data and gridded temperature data had a significant correlation on a regional scale, indicating that the reconstruction represents climatic variations for an extended area surrounding the sampling sites. Analysis of the temperature reconstruction indicated that major cold periods occurred during the periods of 1450s–1480s, 1590s–1770s, 1810s–1890s, 1920s–1940s, and 1960s–1970s. Warm intervals occurred during 1490s–1580s, 1780s–1800s, 1900s–1910s, 1950s, and 1980s to present. The coldest 100-year and decadal periods occurred from 1490s–1580s and 1780s–1800s, respectively, while the warmest 100 years within the studied time period was the 20th century. Colder events and intervals coincided with wet or moist conditions in and near the study region. The reconstructed temperature agreed well with other temperature series reconstructed across the surrounding areas, demonstrating that this reconstructed temperature could be used to evaluate regional climate change. Compared to the tree-ring reconstructed temperature from nearby regions and records of glacier fluctuations from the surrounding high mountains, this reconstruction was reliable, and could aid in the evaluation of regional climate variability. Spectral analyses suggested that the reconstructed annual mean temperature variation may be related to large-scale atmospheric–oceanic variability such as the solar activity, Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Validation of WRF model on simulating forcing data for Heihe River Basin

The research of coupling WRF （Weather Research and Forecasting Model） with a land surface model is enhanced to explore the interaction of the atmosphere and land surface; however, regional applicability of WRF model is questioned. In order to do the validation of WRF model on simulating forcing data for the Heihe River Basin, daily meteorological observation data from 15 stations of CMA （China Meteorological Administration） and hourly meteorological observation data from seven sites of WATER （Watershed Airborne Telemetry Experimental Research） are used to compare with WRF simulations, with a time range of a whole year for 2008. Results show that the average MBE （Mean Bias Error） of daily 2-m surface temperature, surface pressure, 2-m relative humidity and 10-m wind speed were -0.19 ℃, -4.49 hPa, 4.08% and 0.92 m/s, the average RMSE （Root Mean Square Error） of them were 2.11 ℃, 5.37 hPa, 9.55% and 1.73 m/s, and the average R （correlation coefficient） of them were 0.99, 0.98, 0.80 and 0.55, respectively. The average MBE of hourly 2-m surface temperature, surface pressure, 2-m relative humidity, 10-m wind speed, downward shortwave radiation and downward longwave were-0.16 ℃,-6.62 hPa,-5.14%, 0.26 m/s, 33.0 W/m^2 and-6.44 W/m^2, the average RMSE of them were 2.62 ℃, 17.10 hPa, 20.71%, 2.46 m/s, 152.9 W/m^2 and 53.5 W/m^2, and the average R of them were 0.96, 0.97, 0.70, 0.26, 0.91 and 0.60, respectively. Thus, the following conclusions were obtained： （1） regardless of daily or hourly validation, WRF model simulations of 2-m surface temperature, surface pressure and relative humidity are more reliable, especially for 2-m surface air temperature and surface pressure, the values of MBE were small and R were more than 0.96; （2） the WRF simulating downward shortwave radiation was relatively good, the average R between WRF simulation and hourly observation data was above 0.9, and the average R of downward longwave radiation was 0.6; （3） both wind speed and rainfall simulated from WRF model did not agree well with observation data.

Identification and Evolution of Groundwater Chemistry in the Ejin Sub-Basin of the Heihe River, Northwest China

Hydro-chemical characteristics of groundwater and their changes as affected by human activities were studied in the Ejin Sub-Basin of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, to understand the groundwater evolution, to identify the predominant geochemical processes taking place along the horizontal groundwater flow path, and to characterize anthropogenic factors affecting the groundwater environment based on previous data. The concentrations of major ions and total dissolved solids （TDS） in the groundwater showed a great variation, with 62.5% of the samples being brackish （TDS ≥ 1 000 mg L^-l）. The groundwater system showed a gradual hydro-chemical zonation composed of Na^＋ -HCO3^-, Na^＋ -Mg^2＋ -SO4 ^2 -Cl^-, and Na^＋ -Cl^-. The relationships among the dissolved species allowed identification of the origin of solutes and the processes that generated the observed water compositions. The dissolution of halite, dolomite, and 2- gypsum explained, in part, the presence of Na^＋, K^＋, Cl^-, SO^4 , and Ca^2＋, but other processes, such as mixing, Na^＋ exchange for Ca^2＋ and Mg^2＋, and calcite precipitation also contributed to the composition of water. Human activity, in particular large-scale water resources development associated with dramatic population growth in the last 50 years, has led to tremendous changes in the groundwater regime, which reflected in surface water runoff change, decline of groundwater table and degeneration of surface water and groundwater quality. Solving these largely anthropogenic problems requires concerted, massive and long-term efforts.

Integrated hydrologic modeling in the inland Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

As a typical inland river basin in arid Northwest China, having distinct hydrological characteristics and severe and repre- sentative water problems, the Heihe River Basin （HRB） has attracted considerable research interest worldwide and in 2007 became a pilot basin of the G-WADI network of UNESCO/1HR Many research programs have been conducted in the HRB since the 1980s, producing rich knowledge and data about the basin, which will be very helpful to further studies. This paper reviews research efforts related to hydrologic modeling and ongoing model integration studies performed in the HRB in re- cent years. Recently, an observation network covering the whole area and a Web-based data-sharing system have been estab- lished which can greatly improve data acquisition. This paper tabulates modeling activities in past years, including model ap- plications, model modifications and enhancements, and model coupling efforts. Also described is a preliminary modeling in- tegration tool designed to quickly build new models, which has been developed for hydrologic modeling purposes. Challeng- es and issues confronted in current studies are discussed, pointing toward key research directions in the future.

LAND DESERTIFICATION(DEGRADATION) AND ITS CONTROL IN LOWER REACH REGION OF HEIHE RIVER

The lower reach of Heihe River, also known as Ejina River, was called Ruoshui Riverin ancient times. This area, although fallen into extremely arid temperate desert in the EjinaBanner, Inner Mongolia, has been a main line of communication since then and formed thefertile Ejina Oasis relying on the water source flowing from the Qilian mountains. However,in the recent years the land desertification (degradation) in this area has developed rapidly,