Liu et al. (2026) Determination of Suitable Ecological Intervals for Arid Terminal Lakes via Multi-Source Remote Sensing: A “Morphometry–Security–Efficiency” Framework Applied to Ebinur Lake

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-03-03
• Authors: Jing Liu, Aihua LONG, Mingjiang Deng, Qiang An, Ji Zhang, Qing Luo, Rui Sun
• DOI: 10.3390/rs18050771

Research Groups

[Not specified in the provided text.]

Short Summary

This study develops a novel framework integrating morphometric stability, ecological security reliability, and resource use efficiency to define the suitable ecological interval for Ebinur Lake, revealing a significant shrinking trend and proposing a "Spring Surplus and Autumn Deficit" water regulation strategy to optimize ecosystem services.

Objective

• To construct a comprehensive framework coupling "Morphometric Stability–Ecological Security Reliability–Resource Use Efficiency" to delineate the suitable ecological interval for Ebinur Lake, addressing the limitations of traditional single-threshold methods for ecological water requirements.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Ebinur Lake, the largest saltwater lake in Xinjiang, China.
• Temporal Scale: Long-term hydrological dynamics from 2001 to 2023 (22 years).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A comprehensive framework coupling Morphometric Stability, Ecological Security Reliability, and Resource Use Efficiency.
• Data sources: Multi-source remote sensing data (Landsat, Sentinel, ICESat, CryoSat) and monitoring data.

Main Results

• The lake area exhibits a significant shrinking trend, primarily driven by reduced inflow.
• A minimum suitable ecological area of 500 km² was determined by considering the lake morphometric breakpoint, ecological security baseline, and the lower bound of ecosystem service water use efficiency (ESWUE).
• The regulation upper limit is set at 740 km², based on the marginal peak of ESWUE.
• Monitoring data indicate that the lake area falls below the 500 km² minimum baseline in approximately 40% of months, signifying a severe ecological deficit risk.
• ESWUE peaks in April (10 CNY/m³), suggesting that a "Spring Surplus and Autumn Deficit" regulation strategy, by advancing the replenishment window to the spring windy season, can maximize dust suppression benefits at a lower evaporative cost under current climate conditions.

Contributions

• Provides a novel comprehensive framework that integrates morphometric stability, ecological security reliability, and resource use efficiency, offering an improvement over traditional single-threshold methods for defining ecological water requirements.
• Offers a theoretical basis and methodological paradigm for the sustainable management of shrinking terminal lakes globally.

Funding

[Not specified in the provided text.]

Citation

@article{Liu2026Determination,
  author = {Liu, Jing and LONG, Aihua and Deng, Mingjiang and An, Qiang and Zhang, Ji and Luo, Qing and Sun, Rui},
  title = {Determination of Suitable Ecological Intervals for Arid Terminal Lakes via Multi-Source Remote Sensing: A “Morphometry–Security–Efficiency” Framework Applied to Ebinur Lake},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/rs18050771},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18050771}
}