Dr. Xueying Li
Academic Staff
Department Remote Sensing
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research - UFZ
Permoserstraße 15
04318 Leipzig
Phone: +49 155 6607 0992

Research interests
- Climatic and anthropogenic impacts on the water-energy cycle
- Remote sensing in hydrology and water resources management
- Modelling, machine learning, and data driven approaches
Academic Background
2023 - present
Academic Staff, Department Remote Sensing, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Germany
2018 - 2023
PhD, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, China
2022 - 2023
Academic Visitor, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK
2014 - 2018
Bachelor, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, China
Awards
- Outstanding PhD Thesis, Tsinghua University (2023)
- Outstanding PhD Graduates, Tsinghua University (2023)
- Chinese Youth in Water Sciences Outstanding Paper Award (2022)
- National Scholarship, China (2022, 2019, 2017)
- National Outstanding Graduates in Hydrologic Engineering, China (2018)
Projects
- AGRIWATER - Quantifying the impacts of compound hot-dry extremes on agriculture and water resources from earth observation, ESA-MOST Dragon 6 project (2025-2028)
Publications
2024
- Guan, Y., Gu, X., Slater, L.J., Li, X., Li, J., Wang, L., Tang, X., Kong, D., Zhang, X. (2024). Human-induced intensification of terrestrial water cycle in dry regions of the globe. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 7(1), 45.
- Meng, X., Peng, J., Hu, J., Li, J., Leng, G., Ferhatoglu, C., Li, X., García-García, A., Yang, Y. (2024). Validation and expansion of the soil moisture index for assessing soil moisture dynamics from AMSR2 brightness temperature. Remote Sensing of Environment, 303, 114018.
- Long, D., Li, X., Wu, Y., Cui, Y., Tian, F., Duan, X., Xu, X. (2024). Spatial disparity in runoff variability between Southwestern China’s River Basin headwaters during 1981‒2020. Chinese Science Bulletin, 69: 1-10.
2023
- Li, X., Long, D., Slater, L.J., Moulds, S., Shahid, M., Han, P., and Zhao, F. (2023). Soil Moisture to Runoff (SM2R): A data-driven model for runoff estimation across poorly gauged Asian water towers based on soil moisture dynamics. Water Resources Research, 2023, 59(3): e2022WR033597.
2022
- Li, X., Long, D., Scanlon, B. R., Mann, M. E., Li, XD., Tian, F., Sun, Z., and Wang, G. (2022). Climate change threatens terrestrial water storage over the Tibetan Plateau. Nature Climate Change, 12, 801-807. (Cover paper; Highly Cited Paper; Hot Paper)
- Long, D., and Li, X. (2022). Water loss over the Tibetan Plateau endangers water supply security for Asian populations. Nature Climate Change, 12, 785-786. (Research Briefing)
- Long, D., Li, X., Li, X., Han, P., Zhao, F., Hong, Z., Wang, Y., Tian, F. (2022). Remote sensing retrieval of water storage changes and underlying climatic mechanisms over the Tibetan Plateau during 2000‒2020. Advances in Water Sciences, 33(03), 375-389. (Outstanding Paper)
2021
- Hong, Z., Han, Z., Li, X., Long, D., Tang, G., and Wang, J. (2021). Generation of an improved precipitation data set from multisource information over the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 22(5), 1275-1295.
- Abowarda, A.S., Bai, L., Zhang, C., Long, D., Li, X., Huang, Q., and Sun, Z. (2021). Generating surface soil moisture at 30 m spatial resolution using both data fusion and machine learning toward better water resources management at the field scale. Remote Sensing of Environment, 255, 112301. (Highly Cited)
2020
- Li, X., and Long, D. (2020). An improvement in accuracy and spatiotemporal continuity of the MODIS precipitable water vapor product based on a data fusion approach. Remote Sensing of Environment, 248, 111966.
- Long, D., Yan, L., Bai, L., Zhang, C., Li, X., Lei, H., Yang, H., Tian, F., Zeng, C., Meng, X., and Shi, C. (2020). Generation of MODIS-like land surface temperatures under all-weather conditions based on a data fusion approach. Remote Sensing of Environment, 246, 111863. (Highly Cited)
- Sun, Z., Long, D., Yang, W., Li, X., and Pan, Y. (2020). Reconstruction of GRACE data on changes in total water storage over the global land surface and 60 basins. Water Resources Research, 56, e2019WR026250.
2019
- Li, X., Long, D., Han, Z., Scanlon, B.R., Sun, Z., Han, P., and Hou, A. (2019). Evapotranspiration estimation for Tibetan Plateau headwaters using conjoint terrestrial and atmospheric water balances and multisource remote sensing. Water Resources Research, 55(11), 8608-8630.
- Li, X., Liu, L., Li, H., Wang, S., and Heng, J. (2019). Spatiotemporal soil moisture variations associated with hydro-meteorological factors over the Yarlung Zangbo River basin in Southeast Tibetan Plateau. International Journal of Climatology, 40(1), 188-206.
2017
- Li, X., Li, F., and Qiu, J. (2017). A new evaluation for water transfer optimal schemes with the consideration of reliability, stability, and severity. Water Resources Management, 31(9), 2823-2836.
2016
- Li, X., Qiu, J., Shang, Q., and Li, F. (2016). Simulation of reservoir sediment flushing of the Three Gorges Reservoir using an artificial neural network. Applied Sciences-Basel, 6(5), 148.