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This work analyzed the spatial and temporal variations of the glaciers in the Ebi Lake basin during the period 1964 to 2019, based on the 1st and 2nd Chinese Glacier Inventories (CGI) and remote sensing data; this is believed to be the first long-term comprehensive remote sensing investigation on the glacier change in this area, and it also diagnosed the response of the glaciers to the warming climate by analyzing digital elevation modeling and meteorology. The results show that there are 988 glaciers in total in the basin, with a total area of 560 km(2) and average area of 0.57 km(2) for a single glacier. The area and number of the glaciers oriented north and northeast are 205 km(2) (327 glaciers) and 180 km(2) (265 glaciers), respectively. The glaciers are categorized into eight classes as per their area, which are less than 0.1, 0.1-0.5, 0.5-1.0, 1.0-2.0, 2.0-5.0, 5.0-10.0, 10.0-20.0, and greater than 20.0 km(2), respectively. The smaller glaciers between 0.1 km(2) and 10.0 km(2) account for 509 km(2) or 91% in total area, and, in particular, the glaciers smaller than 0.5 km(2) account for 74% in the total number. The glacial area is concentrated at 3500-4000 m in altitude (512 km(2) or 91.4% in total). The number of glaciers in the basin decreased by 10.5% or 116, and their area decreased by 263.29 km(2) (-4.79 km(2) a(-1)) or 32% (-0.58% a(-1)) from 1964 to 2019; the glaciers with an area between 2.0 km(2) and 5.0 km(2) decreased by the largest, -82.60 km(2) or -40.67% in the total area at -1.50 km(2) a(-1) or -0.74% a(-1)), and the largest decrease in number (i.e., 126 glaciers) occurs between 0.1 km(2) and 0.5 km(2). The total ice storage in the basin decreased by 97.84-153.22 km(3) from 1964 to 2019, equivalent to 88.06-137.90 km(3) water (taking 0.9 g cm(-3) as ice mass density). The temperature increase rate in the basin was +0.37 degrees C decade(-1), while the precipitation was +13.61 mm decade(-1) during the last fifty-five years. This analysis shows that the increase in precipitation in the basin was not sufficient to compensate the mass loss of glaciers caused by the warming during the same period. The increase in temperature was the dominant factor exceeding precipitation mass supply for ruling the retreat of the glaciers in the entire basin.

来源平台：REMOTE SENSING