Evaluation of spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall in Malawi: a case of data scarce region

This paper presents the methods, procedure and results in studying spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall in Malawi, a data scarce region, between 1960 and 2006. Rainfall variables and indicators from rainfall readings at 42 stations in Malawi, excluding Lake Malawi, were analysed at monthly, seasonal and annual scales. In the study, the data were firstly subjected to quality checks through the cumulative deviations test and the standard normal homogeneity test. Spatial rainfall variability was investigated using the spatial correlation function. Temporal trends were analysed using Mann?CKendall and linear regression methods. Heterogeneity of monthly rainfall was investigated using the precipitation concentration index (PCI). Finally, inter-annual and intra-annual rainfall variability were tested using normalized precipitation anomaly series of annual rainfall series (|AR|) and the PCI (|APCI|), respectively. The results showed that (1) most stations revealed statistically non-significant decreasing rainfall trends for annual, seasonal, monthly and the individual months from March to December at the 5% significance level. The months of January and February (the highest rainfall months), however, had overall positive but statistically non-significant trends countrywide, suggesting more concentration of the seasonal rainfall around these months. (2) Spatial analysis results showed a complex rainfall pattern countrywide with annual mean of 1,095?mm centred to the south of the country and mean inter-annual variability of 26%. (3) Spatial correlation amongst stations was highest only within the first 20?km, typical of areas with strong small-scale climatic influence. (4) The country was further characterised by unstable monthly rainfall regimes, with all PCIs more than 10. (5) An increase in inter-annual rainfall variability was found.     

Non-parametric trend analysis of the aridity index for three large arid and semi-arid basins in Iran

Currently, an important scientific challenge that researchers are facing is to gain a better understanding of climate change at the regional scale, which can be especially challenging in an area with low and highly variable precipitation amounts such as Iran. Trend analysis of the medium-term change using ground station observations of meteorological variables can enhance our knowledge of the dominant processes in an area and contribute to the analysis of future climate projections. Generally, studies focus on the long-term variability of temperature and precipitation and to a lesser extent on other important parameters such as moisture indices. In this study the recent 50-year trends (1955–2005) of precipitation (P), potential evapotranspiration (PET), and aridity index (AI) in monthly time scale were studied over 14 synoptic stations in three large Iran basins using the Mann–Kendall non-parametric test. Additionally, an analysis of the monthly, seasonal and annual trend of each parameter was performed. Results showed no significant trends in the monthly time series. However, PET showed significant, mostly decreasing trends, for the seasonal values, which resulted in a significant negative trend in annual PET at five stations. Significant negative trends in seasonal P values were only found at a number of stations in spring and summer and no station showed significant negative trends in annual P. Due to the varied positive and negative trends in annual P and to a lesser extent PET, almost as many stations with negative as positive trends in annual AI were found, indicating that both drying and wetting trends occurred in Iran. Overall, the northern part of the study area showed an increasing trend in annual AI which meant that the region became wetter, while the south showed decreasing trends in AI.     

Spatiotemporal variations in rainfall erosivity during the period of 1960–2011 in Guangdong Province,southern China

Rainfall erosivity, which shows a potential risk of soil loss caused by water erosion, is an important factor in soil erosion process. In consideration of the critical condition of soil erosion induced by rainfall in Guangdong Province of southern China, this study analyzed the spatial and temporal variations in rainfall erosivity based on daily rainfall data observed at 25 meteorological stations during the period of 1960–2011. The methods of global spatial autocorrelation, kriging interpolation, Mann–Kendall test, and continuous wavelet transform were used. Results revealed that the annual rainfall erosivity in Guangdong Province, which spatially varied with the maximum level observed in June, was classified as high erosivity with two peaks that occur in spring and summer. In the direction of south–north, mean annual rainfall erosivity, which showed significant relationships with mean annual rainfall and latitude, gradually decreased with the high values mainly distributed in the coastal area and the low values mainly occurring in the lowlands of northwestern Guangdong. Meanwhile, a significant positive spatial autocorrelation which implied a clustered pattern was observed for annual rainfall erosivity. The spatial distribution of seasonal rainfall erosivity exhibited clustering tendencies, except spring erosivity with Moran’s I and Z values of 0.1 and 1.04, respectively. The spatial distribution of monthly rainfall erosivity presented clustered patterns in January–March and July–October as well as random patterns in the remaining months. The temporal trend of mean rainfall erosivity in Guangdong Province showed no statistically significant trend at the annual, seasonal, and monthly scales. However, at each station, 1 out of 25 stations exhibited a statistically significant trend at the annual scale; 4 stations located around the Pearl River Delta presented significant trends in summer at the seasonal scale; significant trends were observed in March (increasing trends at 3 stations), June (increasing trends at 4 stations located in the Beijiang River Basin), and October (decreasing trends at 4 stations) at the monthly scale. In accordance with the mean annual rainfall over Guangdong Province, the mean annual rainfall erosivity showed two significant periodicities of 3–6 and 10–12 years at a confidence level of 95 %. In conclusion, the results of this study provide insights into the spatiotemporal variation in rainfall erosivity in Guangdong Province and support for agrolandscape planning and water and soil conservation efforts in this region.     

Streamflow trend analysis by considering autocorrelation structure,long-term persistence,and Hurst coefficient in a semi-arid region of Iran

Due to the substantial decrease of water resources as well as the increase in demand and climate change phenomenon, analyzing the trend of hydrological parameters is of paramount importance. In the present study, investigations were carried out to identify the trends in streamflow at 20 hydrometric stations and 11 rainfall gauging stations located in Karkheh River Basin (KRB), Iran, in monthly, seasonal, and annual time scales during the last 38 years from 1974 to 2011. This study has been conducted using two versions of Mann–Kendall tests, including (i) Mann–Kendall test by considering all the significant autocorrelation structure (MK3) and (ii) Mann–Kendall test by considering LTP and Hurst coefficient (MK4). The results indicate that the KRB streamflow trend (using both test versions) has decreased in all three time scales. There is a significant decreasing trend in 78 and 73 % of the monthly cases using the MK3 and MK4 tests, respectively, while these percentages changed to 80 and 70 % on seasonal and annual time scales, respectively. Investigation of the trend line slope using Theil–Sen’s estimator showed a negative trend in all three time scales. The use of MK4 test instead of the MK3 test has caused a decrease in the significance level of Mann–Kendall Z-statistic values. The results of the precipitation trends indicate both increasing and decreasing trends. Also, the correlation between the area average streamflow and precipitation shows a strong correlation in annual time scale in the KRB.     

基于探空风资料的大气边界层不同高度风速变化研究

利用1981—2014年我国资料齐全的93个高空气象观测站(距离雷达300、600、900 m高度)的探空风资料,按照气象地理区划,借助GIS分析了边界层内不同高度风速及其趋势的时空变化,得到以下结论:300～900 m,东北和华北地区累年平均风速较大,西南和西北地区累年平均风速较小;边界层内各高度同一地区平均风速的月变化趋势基本一致,但各地区季节风速变化不同,同一地区月平均风速的年较差随高度上升而增大;300 m.各地区年平均风速均显著减小:在600和900 m.华北、西北、华中地区年平均风速呈增加趋势,东北地区年平均风速呈减小趋势,但均未通过显著性水平检验;各高度年平均风速空间分布均为东北地区较大,尤其大兴安岭和东北平原地带;从沿海到内陆,由东至西风速逐渐减小;在300 m.全国年平均风速以减小趋势为主;在600 m,全国大部分地区年平均风速呈增加趋势,尤其是中部、西北和华东沿海地区;在900 m高度,全国年平均风速变化趋势呈现由边界向内部的包围态势,中心地区呈增加趋势,边界地区均呈减小趋势,但是通过显著性水平检验的地区不多。     

Trend of climate variability in China during the past decades

Trends in precipitation and mean air temperature in China are estimated, and trend analysis on statistical moments of residuals is further used to investigate climate variability at different timescales. Trends of statistical moments for residuals (i.e. detrended series of climate records) are estimated by using least-square method and Mann?CKendall test. Results show that upward trend is detected in annual mean air temperature but no linear trend for annual precipitation in China. Weak trend is found for variability of precipitation while no trend is found for that of air temperature for China as a whole. But some regional features of climate variability are observed. It is found that the northwest of China shows a significant increasing for precipitation variability, which is consistent with previous work, especially for monthly precipitation. No change is detected in monthly mean air temperature for all stations, while small decreasing and increasing trends are detected for variability of annual mean air temperature in northeast of China and southwest of China, respectively.     

新疆吉木萨尔县45年气候变化特征分析

利用吉木萨尔县1961-2005年历年日平均气温、最高（低）气温、降水量、日照时数、风速等资料，分析该县45年年际、年代际、四季及近10年的气候变化特征。得出：（1）吉木萨尔县45年全年及四季气温变化均呈上升趋势，尤其冬季增温最明显，为0．62℃／10年；且近10年是45年中最暖的时期。（2）45年来平均月最高气温变化不大；而月平均最低气温增温明显，尤其近10年平均月最低气温达45年中的最高。（3）45年全年降水量变化呈增湿趋势，变化倾向率为8．19mm／10年，其中：冬季和夏季降水量呈逐渐增多趋势；而春季和秋季平均降水量则呈缓慢减少的趋势。不同年代际全年和夏季降水量均以1990年代最多，1970年代最少。近10年的年降水量也呈增湿趋势，其中冬季降水量为45年中最多时期；秋季降水量为45年中最少时期。（4）45年中任何时段的日照时数和平均风速变化均呈减少（小）趋势。对当地生态环境的改善和农业经济发展等都有十分重要的意义。     

Rainfall and rainy days trend in Iran

In this study, long-term annual and monthly trends in rainfall amount, number of rainy days and maximum precipitation in 24?h are investigated based on the data collected at 33 synoptic stations in Iran. The statistical significance of trend and climate variability is assessed by the Mann-Kendall test. The Linear trend analysis and the Mann-Kendall test indicate that there are no significant linear trends in monthly rainfall at most of the synoptic stations in Iran. However, the maximum number of stations with negative trends have been observed in April (29 station), and then in May (21 stations) and February (21 stations) and with positive trends in December (26 stations) and July (24 stations). The significant linear trends, with a significant level of 0.05, in annual rainfall have been noticed only at five stations. The monthly number of rainy days does not show any significant linear trend for most areas in Iran. The maximum number of stations with monthly negative trends in rainy days has also been observed in April with the minimum in December. In April, out of 24 stations with negative trends, 12 stations have a significant negative trend. Contrary to that, in October there is no significant linear trend. Most stations have positive trends in annual number of rainy days. Also, the monthly maximum precipitation in 24?h does not show any significant linear trend for most areas in Iran. The maximum number of stations with monthly negative trends in maximum precipitation has also been observed in February with the minimum in December. In spite of that, there are almost no significant precipitation variations in Iran during the last 50-odd years, the tendency of decreasing rainfall amount in April and increasing rainfall amount in December and July could indicate an eventual climate change in this area in the future.     

石家庄市气候变化特征分析

利用石家庄市1951～2005年气温、降水资料,采用变率分析、趋势分析、小波变换和Mann-Kendall检验等方法对石家庄近55年的气候变化特征进行了分析。结果表明:①夏季、秋季气温变率小,冬季气温变化幅度最大;②年气温和四季气温线性上升趋势显著,春季、冬季升温最明显,近55年气候变暖主要是春季和冬季气温升高造成的。年降水量和四季降水量不存在线性变化趋势;③四季气温和年气温变化的周期性不明显,而降水量变化存在周期性;④石家庄四季气温和年气温在20世纪80年代末和90年初发生了明显的气候突变,而四季降水量和年降水量变化没有发生明显的气候突变。     

Geographic Variation in Growing Season Rainfall during three Decades in Nigeria Using Principal Component and Cluster Analyses

Summary  Reports of changes in the seasonal and annual rainfall in Nigeria suggests that a more detailed analyses of the geographic extent of these changes and of their impact on agriculture could be of value. Variation in the growing season (April to September) rainfall from stations across Nigeria was analysed over the 30-yr period, 1960–90. Regression analyses were used to examine long-term trends. Principal component and cluster analyses were used to group stations with similar trends in standardised seasonal rainfall. Mean accumulated standardised seasonal rainfall were used to examine short- and medium-term trends for each of the groups identified. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) decreases in rainy season rainfall were found at 8 stations mostly in the Guinea and arid/semi-arid savannas of northern Nigeria, whereas no station showed significant increases. Examination of the monthly (April through September) rainfall showed that only three – Kano, Sokoto and Potiskum in the arid/semi-arid savanna – of the twenty-three stations used in the analysis had declining rainfall trends for each of the months April to September and subsequently declining seasonal rainfall trends. However, 12 to 15 stations had consistently declining rainfall trends in atleast some but not all the growing season months. However, a similar pattern was not the case in terms of increasing rainfall trends, where only one to three stations had consistently increasing rainfall trends in some but not all of the months from April to September. Stations that showed increasing rainfall trends were in the southern parts of Nigeria. Six groups with similar patterns in standardised seasonal rainfall were identified by Principal Component and Cluster analyses. For most of the groups, the period from 1967 to 1973 was that of consistently below average seasonal rainfall. However, the timing and extent of the decline varied with location. Common to stations in four of the six groups was a negative trend in seasonal rainfall for the period considered. The geographic variation in seasonal rainfall trends has tremendous agricultural significance since there are indications that the reliability of the season is decreasing from the humid forest zone with positive seasonal trends to the arid/semi-arid savanna with significant negative seasonal trends. Received June 24, 1998 Revised December 18, 1998     

Long-term trend analysis for temperature in the Jinsha River Basin in China

On the basis of the mean annual and seasonal temperatures from 30 meteorological stations in the Jinsha River Basin (JRB) from 1961 to 2008, the temperature trends are analyzed by using Mann–Kendall test and linear trend analysis. There is an increasing trend in mean annual and seasonal temperatures during this period, and the increasing trends in winter seem more significant than those in the other three seasons. The mean annual temperature has increased by 0.0158°C/year during the last 48 years. There are more than 70% of stations exhibiting increasing trends for annual and seasonal temperatures. The increasing trends in the headwater and upper reaches are more dominant than those in the middle and lower reaches. The largest increase magnitude occurred in the low temperature area, while the largest decrease magnitude occurred in the high temperature area. The decreasing trends are mainly characterized for the maximum temperature time series, and summer is the only season showing a slight and insignificant increasing trend. All the time series showed a statistically significant increasing trend at the level of α?=?0.05 for the minimum temperature time series. As a whole, the increasing magnitude of the minimum temperature is significantly greater than the decreasing magnitude of the maximum temperature.     

Homogeneity tests and non-parametric analyses of tendencies in precipitation time series in Keszthely,Western Hungary

This study aims to investigate the precipitation trends in Keszthely (Western Hungary, Central Europe) through an examination of historical climate data covering the past almost one and a half centuries. Pettitt’s test for homogeneity was employed to detect change points in the time series of monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation records. Change points and monotonic trends were analysed separately in annual, seasonal and monthly time series of precipitation. While no break points could be detected in the annual precipitation series, a significant decreasing trend of 0.2–0.7 mm/year was highlighted statistically using the autocorrelated Mann-Kendall trend test. Significant change points were found in those time series in which significant tendencies had been detected in previous studies. These points fell in spring and winter for the seasonal series, and October for the monthly series. The question therefore arises of whether these trends are the result of a shift in the mean. The downward and upward shift in the mean in the case of spring and winter seasonal amounts, respectively, leads to a suspicion that changes in precipitation are also in progress in these seasons. The study concludes that homogeneity tests are of great importance in such analyses, because they may help to avoid false trend detections.     

信阳市人体舒适度指数变化及未来趋势分析

利用信阳气象站1961-2013年的观测资料计算逐日人体舒适度指数(CIHB),运用线性倾向估计、滑动平均和滑动标准差,分析了信阳CIHB的变化趋势,以及舒适日数变化趋势。在此基础上,运用R/S分析法对CIHB及舒适日数变化趋势进行了预测。结果表明:1)信阳的年均CIHB呈显著上升趋势,线性趋势为0.016/a。春、冬季的平均CIHB呈显著上升趋势,且趋势强度相当。秋季平均CIHB虽呈上升趋势,但趋势不显著。夏季平均CIHB呈显著下降趋势。冬季CIHB标准差总体上没有明显的增大或减小趋势,夏季CIHB标准差不断减小,表明信阳出现极端天气气候事件的概率没有增加。2)信阳舒适日数呈显著增加趋势,达0.359天/a,冷、热日数呈减少趋势,趋势强度冷日数的大于热日数的。3)通过R/S分析,年、季平均CIHB具有长期相关的特征,未来的年及春、秋、冬季平均CIHB将继续上升,夏季平均CIHB将继续下降。年舒适日数具有长期相关的特征,未来年舒适日数仍将增加,年冷、热日数继续减少。     

Interannual variability and temporal variations of total column ozone in Visakhapatnam from ground based observations

Total column ozone (TCO) measured by the portable, handheld, multichannel Sun photometer (ozonometer-Microtops-II) at Visakhapatnam (17.43°N, 83.14°E; 51 m above mean sea level), India, which is a tropical urban station has been analysed in this study. The results showed the estimate of the annual and seasonal trends of TCO from the period February 2005 to December 2008. The linear regression technique was applied in Microtops II data to study the trend of TCO during 2005?C2008. It also provides statistics of mean and variability on temporal scale. The results showed increasing trend at Visakhapatnam an average of 1.88 DU per year (or 0.61% per year). However the maximum deviation in diurnal variability of TCO were 28 DU (9.19%) while the minimum deviation were ?36 DU (?11.8%) respectively, which is one of the unique result of this study. The range of the seasonal change represents 9.2% of the mean TCO value with maximum/minimum during March/December.     

Long-term trend and variability of precipitation in Chhattisgarh State,India

Spatial and temporal precipitation variability in Chhattisgarh State in India was examined by using monthly precipitation data for 102 years (1901–2002) from 16 stations. The homogeneity of precipitation data was evaluated by the double-mass curve approach and the presence of serial correlation by lag-1 autocorrelation coefficient. Linear regression analysis, the conventional Mann–Kendall (MK) test, and Spearman’s rho were employed to identify trends and Sen’s slope to estimate the slope of trend line. The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to analyze precipitation variability. Spatial interpolation was done by a Kriging process using ArcGIS 9.3. Results of both parametric and non-parametric tests and trend tests showed that at 5 % significance level, annual precipitation exhibited a decreasing trend at all stations except Bilaspur and Dantewada. For both annual and monsoon precipitation, Sen’s test showed a decreasing trend for all stations, except Bilaspur and Dantewada. The highest percentage of variability was observed in winter precipitation (88.75 %) and minimum percentage variability in annual series (14.01 %) over the 102-year periods.     

Changes in daily and monthly rainfall in the Middle Yellow River,China

Highly concentrated precipitation, where a large percentage of annual precipitation occurs over a few days, may include a high risk of flooding and severe soil erosion. Thus, areas with severe erosion such as the Loess Plateau in China are particularly vulnerable to highly concentrated precipitation events due to climate change. In this study, we investigated spatial and temporal patterns in the concentration of rainfall in the Middle Yellow River (MYR) from the last 56 years (1958–2013). We used daily and monthly precipitation data from 26 meteorological stations in the study area to calculate the precipitation concentration index (PCI) and the concentration index (CI). The southern and northern parts of the MYR were characterized by a lower CI with a decreasing trend, while the middle parts had a higher CI with an increasing trend. High PCI values occurred in the southern MYR, while lower PCIs with a more homogenous rainfall distribution were found mainly in the northern parts of the MYR. The annual PCI and CI exhibited positive trends at most stations, although only a minority of stations had significant trends (P < 0.05). At seasonal scales, CI exhibited significantly increasing trends in winter at most stations, while a few stations had significant trends in the other three seasons. These findings provide important reference information to facilitate ecological restoration and farming operations in the study region.     

On the sea level variability and storm surge frequency from the data of tide-gage stations in the Northwestern Pacific

The sea level variability in the Northwestern Pacific based on the observations at tide-gage stations of JASL system is considered. The long-term seasonal variations of the sea level at these stations are presented and the climatic trends, variability range, and standard deviations of monthly mean values of the sea level from the long-term seasonal values are computed. The frequency of the sea level exceeding relative to the moving average with the shift of 30 days is computed. It is shown that, contrary to general opinion, the frequency of the sea level exceeding relative to the moving average in the Northwestern Pacific does not increase on the whole under conditions of the climate warming and sea level rise.     

近50年拉萨日照时数的变化特征

采用气候倾向率方法对拉萨1953～2005年的年、季节日照时数变化趋势分析表明,近50年来拉萨年日照时数和各季节日照时数都存在不同程度的减少趋势,年日照时数以每10年27.6h倾向率减少,且这种减少的趋势在增大,主要表现在夏、秋季。20世纪50～80年代年日照时数均为正距平,90年代以负距平为其主要的年际变化特征;90年代夏季日照明显偏少,60年代冬季日照充足。年日照时数90年代末出现异常偏少年,夏季日照时数仅在2000年出现了异常偏少现象,而冬季日照时数多异常年份,主要发生在50年代。年平均总云量减少趋势明显,低云量下降趋势显著。     

阿勒泰地区气温日较差的气候变化特征

利用线性趋势法对1961-2008年阿勒泰地区7个气象站点气温日较差进行趋势研究,并根据各因子趋势值,应用相关统计法分析了影响气温日较差呈减小趋势的因子。结果表明：阿勒泰地区四季日较差呈现显著减小趋势,其中冬季最显著,秋季变化最弱。各季节最低气温上升趋势最明显,而最高气温上升趋势较弱。阿勒泰地区与月平均气温日较差相关性最强的因子是日照时数,呈正相关;其次分别为总云量、降水量和水汽压,都呈负相关。年气温日较差与降水量和水汽压相关性最大。     

Spatial patterns and temporal trends of precipitation in Iran

Spatial patterns of monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation over Iran and the corresponding long-term trends for the period 1951–2009 are investigated using the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre gridded dataset. Results suggest that the spatial patterns of annual, winter and spring precipitation and the associated coefficients of variation reflect the role of orography and latitudinal extent between central-southern arid and semi-arid regions and northern and western mountainous areas. It is also shown that precipitation occurrence is almost regularly distributed within the year in northern areas while it is more concentrated in a few months in southern Iran. The spatial distribution of Mann–Kendal trend test (Z statistics) for annual precipitation showed downward trend in north-western and south-eastern Iran, whereas western, central and north-eastern exhibited upward trend, though not statistically significant in most regions. Results for winter and autumn revealed upward trend in most parts of the country, with the exception of north-western and south-eastern where a downward trend is observed; in spring and summer, a downward trend seems to prevail in most of Iran. However, for all seasons the areas where the detected trend is statistically significant are limited to a few spot regions. The overall results suggest that the precipitation is decreasing in spring and summer and increasing in autumn and winter in most of Iran, i.e. less precipitation during the warm season with a consequent intensification of seasonality and dryness of the country. However, since the detected trends are often not statistically significant, any stringent conclusion cannot be done on the future tendencies.