Analysis of Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Glacier Mass Balance on the Northern and Southern Slopes of the Central Tianshan Mountains, China

Glacier mass balance can visually indicate the degree of glacier response to climate change. The mountain glaciers are an essential source recharge for rivers in arid regions and play a vital role maintaining regional ecological stability production life. This paper drives spatially distributed degree-day model using multi-source remote sensing data such as MOD11C3 TRMM3B43 simulate Tianshan Mountains’ south north slope basins. spatiotemporal heterogeneity was compared attributed Geographical detector. results show that: (1) basins mainly at altitude 3900–4300 m, total area accounts 85.71%. number less than 1 km2 is most whole region. (2) During study period, were negative (−465.95 mm w.e.) entire interannual change rate −28.36 w.e./a. overall trend ablation be divided into two stages: from 2000 2010a, persistence increased, 2010 2016a, volatility decreased. (3) In attribution balance, factors affecting parts: topography. cumulative contribution Kaidu nearly 20% higher that topographic factors, but Manas only 7.3% higher. Therefore, river basin more driven by while affected combination factors. (4) accumulation dominant factor (69.55%); area, dominated (70.85%), (54.11%). Due driving force different coupling modes, balance’s caused. contributes analyzing mechanism changes balance. It provides scientific basis investigating characteristics water resource regulation Mountains.