Researches show that groundwater reserves on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are on the rise, Xinhua reported.

These results have important implications for restoration of plateau ecology and global climate change research.

Wang Hansheng, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, was involved in the research and said that, in recent years scientific researchers used satellite gravity observation methods to capture gravitational signals reflected by changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau groundwater. And, according to the gravitational signals, researchers calculated changes in groundwater reserves.

Through many years of data analysis, they have recently revealed the changing trends in groundwater reserves for Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas from 2003 to 2009.

Scientists first discovered rising trends in groundwater at the river basins of Jinsha, Nujiang, and Lancang, the sources of Yangtze and Yellow rivers, Qaidam Basin, Qiangtang Nature Reserve and others. The total annual increase is about 18.6 billion plus or minus 4.8 billion cubic meters.

Understanding changes in groundwater reserves on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is of great value to plateau ecological restoration, agricultural development, prevention of geological disasters, engineering design and geothermal development. It is also important for the hydrological cycle and global climate change research.

This research was jointly completed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, the Swedish Land Survey and the Department of Earth Sciences in the University of Hong Kong. Research results have already been published in the “Earth and Planetary Science Letters” magazine.