Agrometeorological study of crop drought vulnerability and avoidance in northeast of Iran

Drought is one of the crucial environmental factors affecting crop production. Synchronizing crop phenology with expected or predicted seasonal soil moisture supply is an effective approach to avoid drought impact. To assess the potential for drought avoidance, this study investigated the long-term climate data of four locations (Bojnourd, Mashhad, Sabzevar, and Torbat Heydarieh) in Khorasan province, in the northeast of Iran, with respect to the four dominant crops (common bean, lentil, peanut, and potato). Weekly water deficit defined as the difference between weekly precipitation and weekly potential evapotranspiration was calculated. Whenever the weekly water deficit was larger than the critical water demand of a crop, the probability for drought was determined. Results showed that Sabzevar has the highest average maximum temperature (24.6 °C), minimum temperature (11.7 °C), weekly evapotranspiration (32.1 mm), and weekly water deficit (28.3 mm) and has the lowest average weekly precipitation (3.8 mm). However, the lowest mean maximum temperature (19.7 °C), minimum temperature (6.9 °C), weekly evapotranspiration (22.5 mm), and weekly water deficit (17.5 mm) occur in Bojnourd. This location shows the shortest period of water deficit during the growing season for all crops except potato, which also experienced drought at the end of the growing season. Sabzevar and Torbat Heydarieh experienced the highest probability of occurrence and longest duration of drought during the growing season for all crops. The result of this study will be helpful for farmers in order to reduce drought impact and enable them to match crop phenology with periods during the growing season when water supply is more abundant.     

Modeling soil thermal and hydrological dynamics and changes of growing season in Alaskan terrestrial ecosystems

Abundant evidence indicates the growing season has been changed in the Alaskan terrestrial ecosystems in the last century as climate warms. Reasonable simulations of growing season length, onset, and ending are critical to a better understanding of carbon dynamics in these ecosystems. Recent ecosystem modeling studies have been slow to consider the interactive effects of soil thermal and hydrological dynamics on growing season changes in northern high latitudes. Here, we develop a coupled framework to model these dynamics and their effects on plant growing season at a daily time step. In this framework, we (1) incorporate a daily time step snow model into our existing hydrological and soil thermal models and (2) explicitly model the moisture effects on soil thermal conductivity and heat capacity and the effects of active layer depth and soil temperature on hydrological dynamics. The new framework is able to well simulate snow depth and soil temperature profiles for both boreal forest and tundra ecosystems at the site level. The framework is then applied to Alaskan boreal forest and tundra ecosystems for the period 1923–2099. Regional simulations show that (1) for the historical period, the growing season length, onset, and ending, estimated based on the mean soil temperature of the top 20 cm soils, and the annual cycle of snow dynamics, agree well with estimates based on satellite data and other approaches and (2) for the projected period, the plant growing season length shows an increasing trend in both tundra and boreal forest ecosystems. In response to the projected warming, by year 2099, (1) the snow-free days will be increased by 41.0 and 27.5 days, respectively, in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems and (2) the growing season lengths will be more than 28 and 13 days longer in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems, respectively, compared to 2010. Comparing two sets of simulations with and without considering feedbacks between soil thermal and hydrological dynamics, our analyses suggest coupling hydrological and soil thermal dynamics in Alaskan terrestrial ecosystems is important to model ecosystem dynamics, including growing season changes.     

Specification of thermal growing season in temperate China from 1960 to 2009

A number of studies have reported an extension of the thermal growing season in response to the warming climate during recent decades. However, the magnitude of extension depends heavily on the threshold temperature used: for a given area, a small change in the threshold temperature results in significant differences in the calculated thermal growing season. Here, we specified the threshold temperature for determining the thermal growing season of local vegetation across 326 meteorological stations in temperate China by using vegetation phenology based on satellite imagery. We examined changes in the start, end, and length of the thermal growing season from 1960 to 2009. The threshold temperatures for determining the start and end increased strongly with increasing mean annual temperature. Averaged across temperate China, the start of the thermal growing season advanced by 8.4?days and the end was delayed by 5.7?days, resulting in a 14.1-day extension from 1960 to 2009. The thermal growing season was intensively prolonged (by 0.59?day/year) since the mid-1980s owing to accelerated warming during this period. This extension was similar to that determined by a spatially fixed threshold temperature of 5?°C, but the spatial patterns differed, owing to differences in the threshold temperature and to intra-annual heterogeneity in climate warming. This study highlights the importance of specifying the temperature threshold for local vegetation when assessing the influences of climate change on thermal growing season, and provides a method for determining the threshold temperature from satellite-derived vegetation phenology.     

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER DEFICIT AND PRODUCTION OF WINTER WHEAT IN NORTH CHINA

The water deficits in different development stages and the whole growing season of winterwheat in North China under climate change scenarios are analyzed based on the meteorological da-ta,crop phenomenon and soil hydrological data of 30 weather stations.The results show that ifthe temperature rises,the potential evapotranspiration and crop maximum transpiration will in-crease 8%-10%;the actual evapotranspiration in whole growing season will increase about 1%-2%;and it seems to decrease in spring.Therefore the water deficit status would deteriorate.Theamount of water deficit in whole growing season would increase 14%-30%,and the water deficitisolines might shift southward with maximum shift distance being 190 km.As a result the climaticsuitability of winter wheat would change,and the variation rate of yield reduction will be 8%-20% of the present value which results in the declining output values.The irrigation amountwould increase 25%-33%,and the agriculture cost might increase owing to additional irrigation.     

Variations and trends of onset, cessation and length of climatic growing season over Xinjiang, NW China

In this study, we assess spatial patterns of variations and trends of onset, cessation, and length of growing season using mean air temperature data recorded at 51 stations in Xinjiang province, NW China over the period 1959?C2008. Rank-based Mann?CKendall trend test and linear regression method are used to detect the significance and the magnitude of growing season change, respectively. Regionally, the average onset of the growing season has shifts 5.3?days earlier while the average ending date has moved 7.1?days later, increasing the length of the growing season by an average of 12.6?days. This study reveals a quite different result from previous studies. While the lengthening of the growing season in Xinjiang in the past 50?years is similar to that of previous studies, we find that the lengthening can be mainly attributed to delay of cessation in autumn rather than advance of onset in spring. The extended growing season will have strong implications in regional agricultural production of Xinjiang.     

Fluctuations in the onset,termination and length of the growing season in northern Nigeria

Summary A simple water balance method is used to compute the dates of the onset and termination and length of the growing season from long-term rainfall series in northern Nigeria. For most of the stations, the time series of onset and termination dates and growing season length are homogeneous and random, and can be taken as normally distributed. There is a progressive decrease in the length of the growing season from a mean of about 200 days in the south to less than 155 days in the extreme northern part. While there is no statistically significant trend in the onset dates, there is some evidence for statistically significant decreasing trend in the termination dates and the length of the growing season over the region. The results indicate that recent trends in the length of the growing season are more sensitive.to large interannual fluctuations in the start of the rains than to variations in the cessation dates.With 7 Figures     

Growing season expansion and related changes in monthly temperature and growing degree days in the Inter-Montane Desert of the San Luis Valley, Colorado

Most climate change studies on high elevation ecosystems identify changes in biota, while several report abiotic factors. However, very few report expansion of the freeze-free period, or discuss monthly changes of temperature and growing degree days (GDD) during the growing season. This study provides initial data on agriculturally-related aspects of climate change during the growing season (M-J-J-A-S) in the inter-montane desert of the San Luis Valley (SLV), Colorado. Temperature data were gathered from 7 climate stations within the SLV. Based on ordinal days, the last vernal freeze is occurring (p?<?0.05) earlier at 3 stations than in prior years, ranging between 5.52 and 11.86?days during 1981–2007. Significantly-later autumnal freezes are occurring at 5 stations by 5.95–18.10?days, while expansion of the freeze-free period was significantly longer at all stations by 7.20–24.21?days. The freeze-free period averaged about 93?days prior to the 1980s, but now averages about 107?days. Increases (p?<?0.05) in daily mean, maximum, minimum temperature occurred at nearly all stations for each month. Increases in GDD₁₀, GDD_4.4 (potato) and GDD_5.5 (alfalfa) also occurred at nearly all stations for all months during 1994–2007. Higher temperatures increase the number of GDD, quickening crop growth and maturity, and potentially reducing yield and quality unless varieties are adapted to changes and water is available for the season extension and increased evapotranspiration.     

Three-year Variations of Water, Energy and CO$_2$ Fluxes of Cropland and Degraded Grassland Surfaces in a Semi-arid Area of Northeastern China

Based on 3 years （2003-05） of the eddy covariance （EC） observations on degraded grassland and cropland surfaces in a semi-arid area of Tongyu （44°25′N, 122°52′E, 184 m a.s.1.）, Northeast China, seasonal and annual variations of water, energy and CO2 fluxes have been investigated. The soil moisture in the thin soil layer （at 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m） clearly indicates the pronounced annual wet-dry cycle; the annual cycle is divided into the wet （growing season） and dry seasons （non-growing season）. During the growing season （from May to September）, the sensible and latent heat fluxes showed a linear dependence on the global solar radiation. However, in the non-growing season, the latent heat flux was always less than 50 W m^-2, while the available energy was dissipated as sensible, rather than latent heat flux. During the growing season in 2003-05, the daily average sensible and latent heat fluxes were larger on the cropland surface than on the degraded grassland surface. The cropland ecosystem absorbed more CO2 than the degraded grassland ecosystem in the growing season in 2003-05. The total evapotranspiration on the cropland was more than the total precipitation, while the total evapotranspiration on the degraded grassland was almost the same as the total annual precipitation in the growing season. The soil moisture had a good correlation with the rainfall in the growing season. Precipitation in the growing season is an important factor on the water and carbon budget in the semi-arid area.     

近40年中国气候生长期的变化

利用中国642个站点1961~2000年的逐日平均气温记录, 分析研究了中国1961~2000年气候生长期的变化趋势。结果表明, 在近40年中, 气候生长期在全国范围平均增加了6.6天, 北方地区平均增加10.2天, 南方地区平均增加4.2天, 青藏高原增加最多, 达到18.2天。20世纪90年代是气候生长期增加最大, 增长最明显的时期, 1998年是近40年气候生长期最长的年份。对气候生长期变化趋势空间分布特点的进一步分析表明, 华北和青藏高原北部是气候生长期增加最大, 增长最明显的地区, 尤其以河北省和青海西北部最为显著。南方各省份除了四川西北、云贵高原、安徽、江苏外, 其它地区的气候生长期变化趋势不明显。     

半干旱区不同类型土地利用的蒸散量及水分收支差异分析——以通榆为例

利用吉林通榆半干旱区农田站和退化草地站2008年的外场试验观测资料,对比分析了不同土地利用方式对蒸散和地表水分收支的影响。结果表明：从全年来看,尽管两个站点相距仅5 km,但农田站的全年总蒸散量比代表自然土地覆盖状况的退化草地站高28.2 mm;且生长季两种下垫面的蒸散量较为接近,差异主要发生在非生长季。同时,农田站的年水分收支总量为51.1 mm,比退化草地站低35.6％。具体来说,生长季,两个站点的水分收支均有盈余;但在非生长季,退化草地站的水分收支仍有盈余,而农田站则处于水分亏损状态。这说明在半干旱区,代表人为土地利用状况的农田站面临着更大的水分供给压力,人类活动导致的土地利用会加剧该地区的干旱化趋势。
　　进一步的分析表明,水分盈余并不代表地表的水分状况良好。从 Priestley-Taylor 系数来看,两个站点的Priestley-Taylor系数均远小于1.0,说明在半干旱区,由于表层土壤水分条件的限制,实际蒸散量远未达到平衡蒸散量,土壤面临着水分供给的压力。其可能的原因是,对半干旱区而言,尽管水分收支有盈余,但是由于土壤沙化严重,土壤孔隙度大,大气降水很容易下渗,并以地下水的形式存储起来,使得表层土壤水分供应反而不足。     

Changes of Accumulated Temperature, Growing Season and Precipitation in the North China Plain from 1961 to 2009

Using the high-quality observed meteorological data, changes of the thermal conditions and precipitation over the North China Plain from 1961 to 2009 were examined. Trends of accumulated temperature and negative temperature, growing season duration, as well as seasonal and annual rainfalls at 48 stations were analyzed. The results show that the accumulated temperature increased significantly by 348.5℃ day due to global warming during 1961-2009 while the absolute accumulated negative temperature decreased apparently by 175.3℃ day. The start of growing season displayed a significant negative trend of -14.3 days during 1961- 2009, but the end of growing season delayed insignificantly by 6.7 days. As a result, the length of growing season increased by 21.0 days. The annual and autumn rainfalls decreased slightly while summer rainfall and summer rainy days decreased significantly. In contrast, spring rainfall increased slightly without significant trends. All the results indicate that the thermal conditions were improved to benefit the crop growth over the North China Plain during 1961-2009, and the decreasing annual and summer rainfalls had no direct negative impact on the crop growth. But the decreasing summer rainfall was likely to influence the water resources in North China, especially the underground water, reservoir water, as well as river runoff, which would have influenced the irrigation of agriculture.     

Changes of Accumulated Temperature, Growing Season andPrecipitation in the North China Plain from 1961 to 2009

Using the high-quality observed meteorological data,changes of the thermal conditions and precipitation over the North China Plain from 1961 to 2009 were examined.Trends of accumulated temperature and negative temperature,growing season duration,as well as seasonal and annual rainfalls at 48 stations were analyzed.The results show that the accumulated temperature increased significantly by 348.5℃ day due to global warming during 1961 2009 while the absolute accumulated negative temperature decreased apparently by 175.3℃ day.The start of growing season displayed a significant negative trend of-14.3 days during 1961-2009,but the end of growing season delayed insignificantly by 6.7 days.As a result,the length of growing sea.son increased by 21.0 days.The annual and autumn rainfalls decreased slightly while summer rainfall and summer rainy days decreased significantly.In contrast,spring rainfall increased slightly without significant trends.All the results indicate that the thermal conditions were improved to benefit the crop growth over the North China Plain during 1961-2009,and the decreasing annual and summer rainfalls had no direct negative impact on the crop growth.But the decreasing summer rainfall was likely to influence the water resources in North China,especially the underground water,reservoir water,as well as river runoff,which would have influenced the irrigation of agriculture.     

天山北坡牧草生长季节土壤水分变化特征探讨

通过对牧业气象试验站多年土壤水分观测资料的整理分析，认为夏季土壤水分比较丰富，其随深度分布呈降水型；春季土壤水分含量最少，秋季次之，其随深度分布呈蒸发、降水型。旬土壤水分含量在牧草生长期呈两峰三谷型。     

内蒙古河套灌区春玉米作物系数试验研究

作物系数曲线是估算作物生长季耗水量变化的重要参数。基于2013年4—9月内蒙古巴彦淖尔市临河区田间水分试验和1994—2013年气象站观测资料,利用水量平衡法反求春玉米作物系数,分析生长季内的变化规律, 建立动态模拟方程,并与联合国粮农组织 (FAO) 分段直线法结果进行比较, 提出胁迫条件下作物系数的叶面积修正方法。结果表明:玉米作物系数随发育进程可用三项式曲线描述,变化趋势与产量水平无关, 但随产量增高而变幅增大;以出苗后相对积温为时间变量建立模拟方程效果较好,决定系数 (R2) 均在0.92以上;模拟计算出各站点最大 (1.30~1.48) 和平均 (0.831~0.919) 作物系数,与FAO分段直线法计算的典型值和区间值基本一致,生长中期平均相对误差为3.4%~7.2%;提出利用相对叶面积指数修正作物系数的计算方法;通过2014年实例检验,土壤水分模拟值与实测值的平均相对误差为6.3%,相对误差小于15%的占95.8%。     

冬季气温急剧升、降日期与东北夏季低温的联系

利用通化市所属5个气象站1954—2006年日平均温度组成的区域平均时间序列资料、季平均温度资料,分析了短期气温的剧烈变化(本文称之为寒潮和气温骤升)与后期季温度异常的关系,结果发现,冬季短期气温的剧烈变化与后期春、夏季气温距平存在联系,表现在一些特定的寒潮(或气温骤升)爆发日期段总是与后期季的高或低温相对应。在一定的年代背景下,一些日期段还与极端季温度距平存在明显的联系。与后期气温异常联系明显的寒潮爆发、气温骤升日期段存在着周期性,与春季低温对应明显的寒潮爆发日期有5 d的时间间隔;与春季低温对应明显的气温骤升的日期存在着9~11 d的周期,且随着日期的变化,爆发日期之间的间隔有规律的延长和缩短。一些寒潮爆发和气温骤升日期与东北夏季低温冷害存在明显的联系。     

基于概念模型的麦田土壤水分动态模拟研究

农田土壤水分模拟是农业用水管理的重要依据。以根区土体水量平衡方程为依据,考虑根区下界面水分通量,构建了农田土壤水分变化模拟模型,该模型由作物蒸散量模型、根区下界面水分通量模型以及水量平衡方程等组成。采用山西水利职业技术学院试验基地2007年和2008年2个年度冬小麦试验资料,确定了模型参数。结果表明,土壤储水量模拟计算值与实测值有较好的一致性,其相关系数达到0.9555;F检验结果达到极显著水平,所建立的麦田土壤水分动态模型可用于作物蒸散量、根区下界面水分通量和田间土壤水分的模拟计算;计算精度平均达到3%～11%。表明该模型可较好地描述农田士壤水分转化过程。     

Application of a water balance model to estimating hay growth in the peace river region

Abstract

A model that uses daily climate data for calculating hay crop growth in the Peace River region of British Columbia was developed and evaluated using data obtained over four growing seasons. The performances of the ratio of growth to transpiration and the ratio of growth to transpiration (J) divided by vapour pressure deficit (VPD) in estimating crop growth were compared. Transpiration was calculated by subtracting evaporation losses from the soil and foliage from the calculated evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration was calculated using solar radiation and air temperature, and a one‐layer root zone water balance model, which accounted for soil water supply limitation. Soil water storage measurements showed that the water balance model worked well. The model provided satisfactory estimates of growing season yield of above‐ground dry matter. The use of the ratio of growth toT/ vpd showed no improvement in growth estimation over the ratio of growth to transpiration.     

Spatiotemporal change in China’s climatic growing season: 1955–2000

The timing, length, and thermal intensity of the climatic growing season in China show statistically significant changes over the period of 1955 to 2000. Nationally, the average start of the growing season has shifted 4.6–5.5 days earlier while the average end has moved 1.8–3.7 days later, increasing the length of the growing season by 6.9–8.7 days depending on the base temperature chosen. The thermal intensity of the growing season has increased by 74.9–196.8 growing degree-days, depending on the base temperature selected. The spatial characteristics of the change in the timing and length of the growing season differ from the geographical pattern of change in temperatures over this period; but the spatial characteristics of change in growing degree-days does resemble the pattern for temperatures, with higher rates in northern regions. Nationally, two distinct regimes are evident over time: an initial period where growing season indicators fluctuate near a base period average, and a second period of rapidly increasing growing season length and thermal intensity. Growing degree-days are highly correlated with March-to-November mean air temperatures in all climatic regions of China; the length of the growing season is likewise highly correlated with March-to-November mean air temperatures except in east, southeast and southwest China at base temperature of 0°C and southeast China at base temperature of 5°C. The growing season start date appears to have the greater influence on the length of the growing season. In China, warmer growing seasons are also likely to be longer growing seasons.     

Modelling of Seasonal Evapotranspiration from an Agricultural Field Using the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS) with a Pedotransfer Rule and Multicriteria Optimization

The performance of the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS 3.5) was assessed using turbulent fluxes derived from data recorded at two micrometeorological stations located in a potato field in Quebec, Canada. The minimum stomatal resistance, the maximum leaf area index, and the initial water content of the third soil layer were optimized using the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II and the mean square error of the latent heat flux. With respect to benchmark solutions, the optimization improved the sensible and latent heat fluxes by 31 and 23%, respectively. The use of a pedotransfer rule in adjustment of the water content of mineral soils having small percentages of organic matter provided better estimates of the evapotranspiration during the growing stage. However, like the original version of the model (without the pedotransfer rule), it underestimated evapotranspiration throughout the maturity stage. It is noteworthy that the original version produced a good estimate of cumulative evapotranspiration over the entire season as a result of over- and underestimates at the beginning and maturity stage of the growing season, respectively.     

太平洋海温三极子对中国东北地区春玉米气候产量的影响

利用1949—2018年玉米产量数据、NCEP再分析资料、帕尔默干旱指数、标准化降水蒸散指数、土壤含水量和SST等, 分析了太平洋海温三极子对中国东北地区春玉米气候产量的影响。结果表明: 东北地区春玉米气候产量与收获当年1—5月的太平洋海温三极子存在显著相关, 太平洋海温三极子能够通过太平洋上空的遥相关型影响东北地区春玉米播种出苗期和全发育期的区域环流场, 进而影响区域降水、土壤含水量、帕尔默干旱指数和标准化降水蒸散指数等与东北地区春玉米气候产量密切相关的因子。当太平洋海温三极子增强时, 太平洋上空会形成类似Rossby波列结构的遥相关型, 在东北地区高空产生负涡度异常, 有利于上升气流的形成和降水的增加。太平洋海温三极子也有利于在低层形成从西北太平洋向东北地区的东南风异常, 通过水汽传输进一步增强东北区域降水。