Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-69 Manuscript under review for journal Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discussion started: 14 March 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Three-decadal dynamics of mid-channel bars in downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, China Zhaofei Wen1,2, Hong Yang3,4, Changhong Ding5, Ce Zhang6, Guofan Shao2, Jilong Chen1, Mingquan Lv1, Shengjun Wu1, Zhenfeng Shao7 5 1Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China 2Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, 47906, USA 3State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing East Road 73, Nanjing, 210008, China 10 4epartment of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AB, UK 5Aviation University Air Force, Changchun, 130022, China 6Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK 7State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China 15 Correspondence to: Zhaofei Wen (
[email protected]) Abstract. The downstream of the world’s largest Three Gorges Dam (TGD) along Yangtze River (1560 km) hosts numerous mid-channel bars (MCBs). The morphodynamics of these MCBs are crucial to the river’s hydrological processing, local ecological functioning and socioeconomic development. However, a systematic understanding of such dynamics and their 20 linkages to the TGD across the entire downstream reach remain largely unknown. Using Landsat archive images and a thematic extracting scheme, the work presents comprehensive monitoring of MCB dynamics in terms of number, area, and shape, in the downstream of the TGD during 1985–2018.