Advances in Cold Regions' Hydrology and Hydrogeology

A special issue of Hydrology (ISSN 2306-5338). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology–Climate Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 2595

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Interests: hydrogeology; hydrology; cold regions; hydrograph separation

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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Interests: land surface modeling; remote sensing; machine learning applications

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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, Republic of Korea
Interests: land surface models; remote sensing; snow accumulation; snow water equivalent; assimilation of observations
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cold regions, spanning polar zones, high mountains, and permafrost landscapes, are indispensable regulators of Earth’s climate and freshwater resources. Their hydrological systems are highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations, as evidenced by accelerating ice loss in Greenland and shifting river-ice regimes in Siberia and Canada. The disintegration of ice sheets and thawing permafrost not only amplify global sea-level rise but also release legacy pollutants (e.g., arsenic in groundwater) and disrupt carbon cycles. Historically, research in this field has been driven by the need to mitigate hazards such as ice-jam floods and to understand cryosphere-climate feedbacks. Recent advances in satellite gravimetry (e.g., GRACE) and AI-driven predictive models have revolutionized our capacity to monitor and simulate these complex systems. Understanding the hydrology and hydrogeological systems in cold regions is crucial for responding to climate feedback, managing transboundary water resources, and mitigating the hazards of vulnerable communities.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights about advanced research on hydrological and hydrogeological processes in cold environments. We hope to advance insights into the mechanisms of ice–water interactions, groundwater dynamics in thawing permafrost, and the impacts of climate change on the cryosphere system.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Permafrost hydrogeology: Groundwater storage, thermokarst development, and solute transport.
  • Glacial and snowmelt systems: Mass balance modeling, meltwater contributions to rivers/oceans.
  • Cold-region hydrogeochemistry: Legacy pollutants, nutrient cycling, and carbon release.
  • Climate adaptation: Predictive tools for extreme events (e.g., floods, droughts) and resilient infrastructure design.
  • Emerging technologies: AI-driven models, UAV-based monitoring, and multi-scale data integration.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Weifei Yang
Dr. Gaohong Yin
Dr. Jongmin Park
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Hydrology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • cold-region hydrology
  • permafrost hydrogeology
  • glacial meltwater
  • snowpack dynamics
  • climate change impacts
  • ice–water interactions
  • remote sensing applications
  • hydrochemical tracers
  • extreme hydrological events
  • sustainable water management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 19488 KB  
Article
Shifting Snowmelt Regime in a High-Latitude Asian Basin: Insights from the Songhua River Basin
by Xingxiu Li, Guangxin Zhang, Peng Qi, Fengping Li, Weiguo Zhang and Fan Liu
Hydrology 2026, 13(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13010004 - 22 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 759
Abstract
The Songhua River Basin (SRB) in Northeast China is a high-latitude basin experiencing significant snow cover changes under global warming. This study quantified spatiotemporal changes in snowmelt in the SRB (1961–2020). A specific focus was placed on the changes at event scale, including [...] Read more.
The Songhua River Basin (SRB) in Northeast China is a high-latitude basin experiencing significant snow cover changes under global warming. This study quantified spatiotemporal changes in snowmelt in the SRB (1961–2020). A specific focus was placed on the changes at event scale, including frequency, magnitude and duration, that have been underexplored in previous work. Correlations between snowmelt and key driving factors were assessed to identify the dominant controls governing the melt process. A significant elevation-dependent decreasing trend in annual snowmelt was found over the decades, with the decrease most pronounced at lower elevations. Relative to the baseline period (1961–1990), the snowmelt dates during 1991–2020 advanced, with the 25%, 50%, and 75% cumulative levels occurring 9, 6, and 2 days earlier, respectively. Seasonally, snowmelt increased significantly in early spring (February to March) but decreased notably in late spring (April to May). Snowmelt events exhibited reduced frequency, total volume, peak value, and mean rate, along with fewer extreme events. The strongest correlation across snowmelt event types was found with mean snow depth for complete depletion and with accumulated sunshine duration for incomplete depletion, while Rain-on-Snow Melt events were most closely associated with sunshine and temperature. This study can provide a crucial reference for sustainable water management and spring agricultural irrigation in the SRB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Cold Regions' Hydrology and Hydrogeology)
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23 pages, 10418 KB  
Article
Daily Water Mapping and Spatiotemporal Dynamics Analysis over the Tibetan Plateau
by Qi Feng, Kai Yu and Luyan Ji
Hydrology 2025, 12(10), 257; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology12100257 - 30 Sep 2025
Viewed by 1203
Abstract
The Tibetan Plateau, known as the “Asian Water Tower”, contains thousands of lakes that are sensitive to climate variability and human activities. To investigate their long-term and short-term dynamics, we developed a daily surface-water mapping dataset covering the period from 2000 to 2024 [...] Read more.
The Tibetan Plateau, known as the “Asian Water Tower”, contains thousands of lakes that are sensitive to climate variability and human activities. To investigate their long-term and short-term dynamics, we developed a daily surface-water mapping dataset covering the period from 2000 to 2024 based on MODIS daily reflectance time series (MOD09GQ/MYD09GQ and MOD09GA/MYD09GA). A hybrid methodology combining per-pixel spectral indices, superpixel segmentation, and fusion of Terra and Aqua results was applied, followed by temporal interpolation to produce cloud-free daily water maps. Validation against Landsat classifications and the 30 m global water dataset indicates an overall accuracy of 96.89% and a mean relative error below 9.1%, confirming the robustness of our dataset. Based on this dataset, we analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of 1293 lakes (no less than 5 km2). Results show that approximately 87.7% of lakes expanded, with the fastest growth reaching +43.18 km2/y, whereas 12.3% shrank, with the largest decrease being −5.91 km2/y. Seasonal patterns reveal that most lakes reach maximum extent in October and minimum extent in January. This study provides a long-term, cloud-free daily water mapping product for the Tibetan Plateau, which can serve as a valuable resource for future research on regional hydrology, ecosystem vulnerability, and climate–water interactions in high-altitude regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Cold Regions' Hydrology and Hydrogeology)
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