Respinse of glacier variation to climate change in the Bukatage Ice Cap from 1973 to 2010

In this study,we use Landsat data(1973～2010 serial RBV,MSS,TM,and ETM+) to map the glacier extents by applying remote sensing(RS) and visual interpretation.After constructing glacier maps,we obtained the details of glaciers changes of Bukatage Ice Caps,located at the central part of the Kunlun Mountains during the last 37 years by using GIS tools,and the response of glacier area variation to climate change was discussed systematically.The result show that the Bukatage Ice Caps have experienced a general shrinkage(1976-2010) after slight rise(1973-1976),the total glacier area decreased by 5.42% from 1973 to 2010.By analyzing the climatic changes(annual mean temperature,summer mean temperature and annual precipitation) and glacial variation in the research area it is shown that glacier changes in the region is contributed to the impacts of global warming.Annual precipitation also showed an upward trend,but this could not compensate for the mass loss due to ablation.Besides,topographic condition、geographic position and the scale of glacier are key factors for glacier changes.