Spatial-temporal variations of stage-area hysteretic relationships in large heterogeneous lake–floodplain systems

Abstract

The hysteretic relationship between the water level and the inundated area is one of the basic non-linear characteristics of lake hydrology. However, it is difficult to obtain this relationship accurately, especially for large floodplain lakes that exhibit time-varying boundaries with rapid water-level fluctuations. Taking the largest lake-floodplain system of the Yangtze River basin – Poyang Lake and its extremely productive wetland – as an example, we investigated the spatial–temporal variation of the stage-area hysteretic relationship in large heterogeneous lake-floodplain systems by adopting the Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflection Fusion Model (ESTARFM) based on the observed water levels and reconstructed high spatial–temporal resolution inundation datasets using multi-source remote sensing data. The major results indicate that the inundation dynamics in the regions of the main lake and seasonal floodplain lakes are remarkably inconsistent. Concerning the inundation behavior of the river and lake-floodplain, a conceptual model was established to explain the formation mechanism of the counter-clockwise and clockwise stage-area hysteretic relationships in the Poyang lake–floodplain system. Further investigation revealed that seasonal lakes exist widely in floodplain settings and have a crucial impact on increasing the hysteresis of upstream stations and decreasing that of downstream stations. The magnitude and direction of the stage-area hysteretic relationships varied with time in a changing environment. This study extends the understanding of the complexity of hydrological behavior in large heterogeneous lake-floodplain systems, which is of vital importance for lake water resources and ecological management.