Study of snow cover/depth evolution characteristics in Tianshan region of China based on geographical partition

Based on the digital elevation data, snow depth and snow cover remote sensing data, this paper divides six snow evolution areas and geographical partitions, extracts the geographical partitions of each evolution area and obtains the geographical characteristics of the evolution area for analysis. The results show that: (1) From 2003 to 2017, the average snow area decreased at a rate of − 0.004, and the average snow depth increased at a rate of 0.03. (2) The snow in the middle altitude hill with shady gentle slope area is the most obvious in the seasonal evolution, and the percentage of this region in the seasonal snow evolution area is 5.46%, the snow depth in the middle altitude hill with sunny and gentle slopes area increased and decreased significantly in the past 15 years, and the percentage of this region in the SD significant changes evolution area was 6.32%. The snow in the low relief middle altitude mountain with shady and moderate slope area not only shows obvious seasonal evolution, but also increases and decreases significantly in snow depth. And the percentage of this region in the seasonal snow significant evolution area is 5.82%. (3) The geographical partitions with the largest area in all evolution areas is the middle altitude hill with sunny and gentle slopes area (4.75%). (4) The geographical partition with the largest variation of snow depth in Tianshan region is the low relief middle altitude mountain with shady and moderate slope area (12.02 cm). (5) The snow accumulation and melting are obvious in the range of 1000–3500 m above altitude, different geomorphology types lead to obvious differences in snow characteristics. The snow melting is most obvious in the gentle slope area of the low topographic relief geomorphology types, and the snow accumulation is most obvious in the steep slope area of the middle relief geomorphology types.