Planform channel dynamics along the Ningxia–Inner Mongolia reaches of the Yellow River from 1958 to 2008: analysis using Landsat images and topographic maps

Channel planform dynamics were analyzed for the Ningxia–Inner Mongolia reaches of the Yellow River. Map data were analyzed by means of GIS and used to determine the planform characteristics and changes in width, sinuosity, and shoreline migration rates between 1958 and 2008. The study was based on topographic maps of 1958 and 1967, which had been derived from aerial photos and a field survey and from satellite imagery of 1977, 1990, 2000, and 2008. The channel planform dynamics were determined by comparing sequential changes in the position of the shorelines in these years. Sinuosity adjustments were small during the study (range: 1.34–1.45). The initial sinuosity (1.45 in 1958) gradually decreased to 1.34 in 1990, and then increased to 1.40 in 2008. Channel contraction had been the dominant planform process, but periodic floods resulted in channel expansion (1958–1990). The river’s channel area expanded substantially from 1958 to 1990 (by 42.1 %), then sharply contracted from 1990 to 2000 (by 45.8 %), with no subsequent changes. The bank erosion and accretion rates were severe. The mean erosion rates ranged from 30.7 to 68.3 m/year on the left side and 27.1 to 58.3 m/year on the right side. The mean accretion rates ranged from 44.4 to 68.3 m/year on the left side and 30.5 to 60.4 m/year on the right side. The mean channel midline shifted by 57.8 m toward the right from 1958 to 2008. The mean channel midline moved 4.8 m to right from 1958 to 1967, 54.3 m to the left from 1967 to 1977, 44.2 m to the right from 1977 to 1990, 64.3 m to the right from 1990 to 2000, and 2.8 m to the right from 2000 to 2008.