Synapse
⌘+K
Synapse
PulseExploreClubsResearchersJournals
Instagram
HomeClubsExplore
September 17, 2026HydrologyOpen Access

Long-Term Dynamics of Aufeis and Their Association with Vegetation Phenology: A Case Study in the Chuluut River Valley, Mongolia

View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share

Authors

MZM. A. ZharnikovaAAAlexander A. AyurzhanaevVCVladimir Chernykh

Discussion

Loading...

Member takes

Overview

Satellite observational analysis reveals declining aufeis extent linked to altered vegetation phenology in river valley meadows, suggesting shifts in downstream riparian water availability.

Key Points

  • To quantify long-term changes in aufeis area and spatial configuration and evaluate how varying aufeis return frequencies influence seasonal vegetation phenology.
  • Extracted annual aufeis extents from Landsat satellite imagery across the period 1986–2025.
  • Evaluated vegetation phenology and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dynamics using Harmonized Landsat–Sentinel-2 (HLS) data spanning 2016–2025 across sites with differing aufeis return frequencies.
  • Mean aufeis extent was 11.98 km² and contracted significantly at an estimated rate of 0.084 km² per year, correlated most strongly with antecedent April–June precipitation.
  • Start of season (SOS) for meadow vegetation was delayed in areas experiencing frequent aufeis recurrence relative to infrequent recurrence.
  • Peak and mean summer NDVI remained elevated post-melt, with the highest integrated seasonal NDVI recorded in zones with intermittent aufeis recurrence.

Cite This Study

Zharnikova et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aabb69c5f706d05830e537ehttps://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13090253
View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share