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China’s lakes at present: Number, area and spatial distribution

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A Data Descriptor to this article was published on 21 June 2016

Abstract

Based on 11004 satellite images from CBERS CCD and Landsat TM/ETM, changes in the spatial characteristics of all lakes in China were determined following pre-established interpretation rules. This dataset was supported by 6843 digital raster images (1:100000 and 1:50000), a countrywide digital vector dataset (1:250000), and historical literature. Comparative data were corrected for seasonal variations using precipitation data. There are presently 2693 natural lakes in China with an area greater than 1.0 km2, excluding reservoirs. These lakes are distributed in 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and have a total area of 81414.6 km2, accounting for ∼0.9% of China’s total land area. In the past 30 years, the number of newly formed and newly discovered lakes with an area greater than 1.0 km2 is 60 and 131, respectively. Conversely, 243 lakes have disappeared in this time period.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    RongHua Ma, GuiShan Yang, HongTao Duan, JiaHu Jiang, SuMin Wang, FanXiang Kong, Bin Xue, JingLu Wu & ShiJie Li

  2. Department of Geographic Information Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    XueZhi Feng

  3. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    AiNong Li

Authors
  1. RongHua Ma
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  2. GuiShan Yang
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  3. HongTao Duan
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  4. JiaHu Jiang
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  5. SuMin Wang
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  6. XueZhi Feng
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  7. AiNong Li
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  8. FanXiang Kong
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  9. Bin Xue
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  10. JingLu Wu
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  11. ShiJie Li
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Correspondence to RongHua Ma.

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Ma, R., Yang, G., Duan, H. et al. China’s lakes at present: Number, area and spatial distribution. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 283–289 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4052-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4052-6

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