Analysis of Kyagar Glacial Lake outburst floods in the Yarkand River Basin since 1998 using multisource remote sensing data

Kyagar Glacial lake outburst floods in the Yarkand River Basin since 1998 based on multi-source remote sensing data were analyzed. The Kyagar Glacier dammed Lake broke out when the lake area was larger than 3.0 km² before 2002. However, affected by climate change, the dammed lake collapsed after reaching 1.8 km² in 2009 and 2018. The change of annual average snow area of the Yarkand River Basin was small during 2000-2022. However, the snow melting during this period increased. Thus, the runoff generated gradually increased, and the risk of floods gradually increased. The possible collapse of the dammed lake superimposed impacted by Kyagar Glacier has gradually increased the severity of the flood disaster downstream. Dynamic understanding of the area changes of the dammed lake of the Kyagar Glacier, when the area of the dammed lake of the Kyagar Glacier reaches the breaking threshold, early warning is issued in time to support the downstream emergency work.