Abstract: Glaciers retreat caused by climate warming has rapidly increased surface water area in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on 3952 Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 8 OIL remote sensing images.The paper uses DSWE method and FMask algorithm to obtain respectively glacier and surface water information in Sichuan-Tibet traffic corridor,and analyses spatio-temporal changes and coupling characteristic between glacier and surface water combining with DEM and watershed data.The glaciers in the Yarlung Zangbo River and Nujiang River basins have shrunk by more than 5000 km² in the past 35 years, with the annual shrinking rate increasing gradually. The other four basinsalso retreated as a whole. However, the retreat rate is lower and sporadic areas are increasing in the past decade. The surface water in Sichuan-Tibet traffic corridor is strongly affected by glacier melting, especially in Yarlung Zangbo River and Nujiang River basins whose surface water areas are expanded by 327 and 155 km² respectively. But the glaciers are relative stable which located in Lantsang River, Jinsha River. The rich precipitation in Minjiang River basin is the main reason for the surface water area expansion. The coupling of the change between glacier and surface water is good in different elevation intervals. Especially in the elevation range of 4500～5000 m and 5000～5500 m, the retreat of glacier is accelerated, accompanied by the accelerated expansion of surface water in the same period.

Key words: Sichuan-Tibet traffic corridor, remote sensing monitoring, glacier, surface water