Dry spells in the River Plata Basin: an approximation of the diagnosis of droughts using daily data

This study addresses the dry spells observed in the La Plata Basin using daily data from 94 observation stations during sampling periods from 1900 to 2005. Dry days were defined as having less than 0.3?mm of accumulated precipitation. This definition allowed for the assessment of the dryness in the La Plata Basin and a comparison with other regions. The main purpose of this study was to analyse dry spells, especially extreme cases (meteorological droughts), and assess them on a daily basis. Trends and low frequency of droughts were analysed using a general framework to detect and compare properties of dry states based on daily and annual time scales. The trends were estimated using two different methods. Overall, the trends showed a decrease, especially in the eastern basin region during the period of 1972?C1996. The results showed sporadic decreases in dry events and events of extreme dryness (droughts). Spectral structure permits an inference of low-frequency maxima and confirmed an inter-annual 2- to 3-year period of variability in drought occurrence for most of the basin. Furthermore, probabilistic distribution functions of dry spells at basin stations were analysed to confirm that they followed a geometric?Cbinomial distribution. Additional tests were used to determine whether there was a second threshold, using the Weibull and gamma adjustment models. In order to study spatial homogeneity, the field of dry spell maxima in the basin was generated using a vector array based on the occurrence date and length of the maximum spell. Due to the dependence of spell length on the annual cycle, the longest spells were observed from April to the beginning of winter in the Argentine northwest region and in the northern and western regions of the basin. The intensity of droughts decreased in the Pampas and Mesopotamia regions. The drought of 1988 was considered to be the longest dry spell in the basin. The water deficits from this drought resulted in Argentinean economic losses of more than four billion US dollars during 1988.     

Diagnostic of the massive flood event and flood hazard mapping in Tons River basin

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - This study diagnoses the Satna flood event in the Tons River basin. The occurrence of this intense flood is attributed to the rainfall associated with the...     

1961-2010年四川盆地霾气候特征及影响因子分析

利用1961-2010年四川盆地122个气象站观测资料,分析四川盆地年平均霾日数时空分布特征及霾日数季节和年变化趋势。探讨近50 a四川盆地大气干消光系数、风速、能源消耗和人口等因素与霾日数之间的关系。结果表明：1961-2010年四川盆地122个站年平均霾日数为62.5 d,最多的站可达100.0 d以上。霾日数有明显季节变化,四川盆地冬季霾日数最多（28.4 d）,春、秋季次之,夏季最少（5.9 d）。四川盆地有104个站霾日数年变化呈增加的趋势,其中有71个站通过了置信度99 %的检验,霾日数增加最多的是四川省内江地区的戚远,气候倾向率为42.0 d/10 a;霾日数增加最少的是成都市的新都,气候倾向率为0.4 d/10 a。四川盆地有18个站霾日数年变化呈下降趋势,仅7个站点通过了置信度99 %的信度检验,霾日数减少最多的是四川北部广元地区的南江,气候倾向率为-16.7 d/10 a。霾日数的年变化与大气干消光系数呈显著正相关,与风速呈显著负相关,与四川盆地的能源消耗和人口增长呈显著正相关。     

Iranian rainfall series analysis by means of nonparametric tests

The study of the trends and fluctuations in rainfall has received a great deal of attention, since changes in rainfall patterns may lead to floods or droughts. The objective of this study was to analyze the annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall time series at seven rain gauge stations in the west of Iran for a 40-year period (from October 1969 to September 2009). The homogeneity of the rainfall data sets at the rain gauge stations was checked by using the cumulative deviations test. Three nonparametric tests, namely Kendall, Spearman, and Mann–Kendall, at the 95 % confidence level were used for the trend analysis and the Theil–Sen estimator was applied for determining the magnitudes of the trends. According to the homogeneity analysis, all of the rainfall series except the September series at Vasaj station were found to be homogeneous. The obtained results showed an insignificant trend in the annual and seasonal rainfall series at the majority of the considered stations. Moreover, only three significant trends were observed at the February rainfall of Aghajanbolaghi station, the November series of Vasaj station, and the March rainfall series of Khomigan station. The findings of this study on the temporal trends of rainfall can be implemented to improve the water resources strategies in the study region.     

The changing pattern of droughts in the Lancang River Basin during 1960–2005

Drought is one of the most costly natural disasters in the world. Understanding the drought characteristics in space and time will help deepen our apprehension of the drought formation and evolution mechanisms. It can also contribute to design monitoring system for drought warning and mitigation. In this study, we analyzed meteorological droughts, using the Standardized Precipitation Index, for Lancang River Basin, Southwest China. The 46-year (1960–2005) daily precipitation observations from 35 meteorological stations in the basin were used to derive the drought index. Spatial patterns and temporal patterns of the drought characteristics at multiple scales were investigated. The results utilizing the Principal Component Analysis and K-means clustering methods suggest that the study area can be divided into four sub-regions geographically with each sub-region having its own distinctive temporal evolution patterns of droughts. The temporal variability of droughts was investigated using the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) analysis and the wavelet method. The EMD analysis showed that more than 60 % of the variance of the drought is associated with intra-decadal fluctuations in precipitation, except for one sub region, represented by the Changdu station. The wavelet transform showed an evolution of the main cycle near 3–7 years for most parts of the study area.     

Rainfall trends in the Brazilian Amazon Basin in the past eight decades

Rainfall series at 18 stations along the major rivers of the Brazilian Amazon Basin, having data since 1920s or 1930s, are analyzed to verify if there are appreciable long-term trends. Annual, rainy-season, and dry-season rainfalls are individually analyzed for each station and for the region as a whole. Some stations showed positive trends and some negative trends. The trends in the annual rainfall are significant at only six stations, five of which reporting increasing trends (Barcelos, Belem, Manaus, Rio Branco, and Soure stations) and just one (Itaituba station) reporting decreasing trend. The climatological values of rainfall before and after 1970 show significant differences at six stations (Barcelos, Belem, Benjamin Constant, Iaurete, Itaituba, and Soure). The region as a whole shows an insignificant and weak downward trend; therefore, we cannot affirm that the rainfall in the Brazilian Amazon basin is experiencing a significant change, except at a few individual stations. Subregions with upward and downward trends are interspersed in space from the far eastern Amazon to western Amazon. Most of the seasonal trends follow the annual trends, thus, indicating a certain consistency in the datasets and analysis.     

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     

新疆塔城地区1961—2021年季节性干旱演变特征

利用塔城地区9个国家气象观测站1961—2021年逐月降水资料,基于标准化降水量指数(SPI)运用最小二乘法和Mann-Kendall检验等方法分析塔城地区干旱时空分布特征。结果表明：(1)年尺度上,塔城地区干旱发生频率为30.37%,轻旱发生最多,中旱次之；2/3站点SPI呈显著增大趋势,年站次比和干旱强度呈显著减小趋势,干旱程度有所减轻,在1987年之后塔城干旱程度整体偏轻。(2)季节尺度上,夏、秋、冬季在1980年代中期发生干旱减轻的突变,且秋季和冬季分别在2002年和1997年达到显著。(3)在影响范围方面,各季以局域性和全域性干旱为主,全域性干旱发生频率介于20～30%之间；在干旱强度方面,各季轻度干旱发生频率最高,中度以上干旱发生频率介于33～38%之间。(4)近60a塔城地区季节性干旱呈现影响范围缩小,强度减弱的变化趋势,尤其是冬季干旱站次比和干旱强度分别以-7.79%.(10a)-1^和-0.11.(10a)-1^的倾向率显著减小,干旱减轻趋势在四季中最为显著。     

柴达木盆地降水的时空分布特征

利用柴达木盆地11个国家气象站(2017年3月—2018年2月)及28个区域气象站(2017年6—8月)月降水量资料,运用线性回归订正法和比值订正法推算柴达木盆地的年降水量,进一步分析柴达木盆地降水量季节变化及空间分布特征。结果表明:(1)柴达木盆地降水量年内分配极不均匀,呈单峰性,峰值出现在7月,5—9月(汛期)降水量占全年的87.4%。季节差异非常明显,降水主要集中在夏季;(2)年降水量空间分布特征:柴达木盆地年降水量各地差异极为显著,降水量整体表现为从东向西逐渐减少。最大值出现在天峻,最小值出现在冷湖。用2种方法推算的年降水量最大值出现在柴达木盆地东北部祁连山南麓的木里镇,其次在格尔木市南部出现了两个相对的大值中心,中间区域(93°～97°E)由四周山区向盆地中心逐渐减少的形势表现得更加清晰。夏季降水量的空间分布与年降水量的空间分布完全一致。(3)国家气象站模型中降水量分布只受经度和海拔高度的影响,而线性回归法和比值订正法模型中降水量的分布不仅受经度和海拔高度的影响,还受纬度的影响,三者的贡献率由大到小的排序是经度海拔高度纬度。     

Recent drought and precipitation tendencies in Ethiopia

In 2011, drought in the Horn of Africa again made news headlines. This study aims to quantify the meteorological component of this and other drought episodes in Ethiopia since 1971. A monthly precipitation data set for 14 homogeneous rainfall zones was constructed based on 174 gauges, and the standardized precipitation index was calculated on seasonal, annual, and biannual time scales. The results point to 2009 as a year of exceptionally widespread drought. All zones experienced drought at the annual scale, although in most zones, previous droughts were more extreme. Nationally, 2009 was the second driest year, surpassed only by the historic year 1984. Linear regression analysis indicates a precipitation decline in southern Ethiopia, during both February–May and June–September. In central and northern Ethiopia, the analysis did not provide evidence of similar tendencies. However, spring droughts have occurred more frequently in all parts of Ethiopia during the last 10–15 years.     

浑太流域降水极值的统计分布特征

基于浑太流域1966-2006年73个雨量站的日降水资料,建立了逐站年最大日降水量(AnnualMaximum,AM)序列和汛期4-9月日降水量<1.27mm.d-1的最长持续干旱天数(Munger Index,MI)序列,并对其时空分布规律进行了分析。采用广义极值(General Extreme Value,GEV)分布、广义帕雷托(General Pareto,GP)分布、韦布尔(Weibull,WB)分布、约翰逊SB(Jonhson SB,J-SB)分布、Burr分布和对数逻辑(Log-Logistic,L-LG)分布等6种极值分布函数对AM和MI序列进行了逐站分布拟合,结果表明,广泛应用的GEV分布整体拟合程度最好,有50个测站的KS检验统计量Dn<0.09,而未曾推广使用的Burr分布的拟合效果也非常好,有36个测站Dn<0.09。用GEV分布对50年一遇的AM和MI进行了估算,发现流域中心地区极端强降水和极端干旱的程度较高,分别为>208mm.d-1和>47d。     

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.     

Long-Term Rainfall Variability in the Eastern Gangetic Plain in Relation to Global Temperature Change

India’s annual weather cycle consists mainly of wet and dry periods with monsoonal rains being one of the significant wet periods that shows strong spatiotemporal variability. This study includes the climatological characteristics, fluctuation features, and periodic cycles of annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall of seven river basins across the eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) using the longest possible instrumental area-averaged monthly rainfall series (1829–2012). Understanding the relationships between these parameters and global tropospheric temperature changes and El Niño and La Niña climatic signals is also attempted.

Climatologically, mean annual rainfall in the EGP varies from 1070.5?mm in the Tons River basin to 1508.6?mm in the Subarnarekha River basin. The highest rainfall in the EGP occurs during monsoon (1188?mm). The annual rainfall in all river basins and monsoon rainfall in four river basins is normally distributed. Annual and monsoonal rainfall in the Brahmani and Son River basins show a significant decreasing long-term trend. Over the last 20 years, annual rainfall in all river basins and monsoonal rainfall in five river basins show a decreasing trend. The power spectra for all rainfall series are characterized by consistent significant wavelength peaks at 3–5 years, 10–20 years, 40 years, and more than 80 years. Short-term fluctuations with a period less than 10 years is the major contributor to total variance in annual and/or monsoon rainfall (77.6%), followed by decadal variations with a period of 10–30 years (13.1%) and a long-term trend with a period greater than 30 years (9.3%).Temperature and thickness gradients from the Tibet–Himalaya–Karakoram–Hindu Kush highlands to eight strong highs show a significant correlation with rainfall during the onset and withdrawal phases of summer monsoon in the EGP.     

湖南极端干旱气候时段人影作业潜力分析

利用湖南97个气象观测站逐日综合气象干旱指数、逐日降水量和湖南天气气候分区,研究湖南极端干旱特征和极端干旱时段内人工影响天气增雨潜力,结果表明:①湖南极端干旱期有相当的增雨潜力,各个分区的极端干旱频次和大气可降水量年代际变化除70年代外均呈现为北少南多的特点。②极端干旱时段内各分区年均可增雨日数主要表现为月际差异,可增雨日数主要集中在8—10月,各分区区域差异较小,各分区在伏旱期的可增雨日数大约占伏旱期的16%～20%。③湖南极端干旱按照出现的季节分类有11种,频次最高的是夏秋连旱,同时夏秋连旱的可增雨日数最多。     

Relationships between rainy days,mean daily intensity and seasonal rainfall in normal,flood and drought years over india

There are limitations in using the seasonal rainfall total in studies of Monsoon rainfall climatology. A correlation analysis of the individual station seasonal rainfall with all India seasonal mean rainfall has been made. After taking the significance test (strictly up to 5% level) the stations which are significantly correlated have been considered in this study in normal, flood and drought years respectively. Analysis of seasonal rainfall data of 50 stations spread over a period of 41 years suggests that a linear relationship fits better than the logarithmic relationship when seasonal rain-fall versus number of rainy days is studied. The linear relationship is also found to be better in the case of seasonal rainfall versus mean daily intensity.     

华南地区干旱气候预测研究

选用华南地区15个站近50年的年(季、月)降水资料,对华南地区干旱年景进行分析,并做气候预测。采用极差法计算各站点年雨量的临界值,评定严重干旱年和一般干旱年。分析发现,华南地区年雨量变化有明显的阶段性,1961~2003年间,平均4.3年有一个干旱年,14.3年有一个严重干旱年。介绍了几种实际预报中用到的旱涝预测方法:指数曲线方程预报方法、时间序列多周期特征值叠加预报法、综合气候预测方法、最优遥相关分析预报方法。对华南地区未来10年总的旱涝趋势的预测结论是:2005年雨量偏多,2006~2008年偏旱为主,2009~2012年是多雨期。     

Atmospheric contribution to hydrologic variations in the Arctic

Abstract

High‐latitude rawinsonde data for 18 years (1973–1990) are used to compute the atmospheric moisture flux convergence over two regions: the Arctic Ocean and the Mackenzie River drainage basin. The primary objectives are to assess the interannual variability and to compare the macroscale hydrologie regimes of the two regions. The moisture flux convergence is positive in all months over the Arctic Ocean, but is occasionally negative during summer over the Mackenzie Basin. The climatological seasonal cycle of the moisture convergence contains a late‐summer (August‐September) maximum over the Arctic Ocean but a late‐summer minimum over the Mackenzie Basin. Evaporation, deduced from the moisture inflow and independent data on precipitation, makes a much greater contribution to the atmospheric moisture budget of the Mackenzie domain, especially during summer. The respective equivalent area averages of the 18‐year annual mean moisture flux convergence, precipitation and derived evaporation are 17.3, 19.5 and 2.2 cm a^‐1 for the Arctic Ocean and 24.9, 33.6 and 8.7 cm a^‐1 for the Mackenzie domain. However, the range of interannual variations of the flux convergence is about ±50% of the annual means and more than twice the monthly means. The annual totals of the flux convergence are correlated with station‐derived precipitation over the Mackenzie domain and with yearly variations of the Mackenzie discharge. The moisture flux convergence over the Mackenzie domain suggests that station reports underestimate precipitation during the winter months by amounts equivalent to several centimetres per annum.     

长江流域及三峡库区近542年旱涝演变特征

选取长江流域沿线及三峡库区12个代表站,根据中国500年旱涝图集等级和各站建站以来5—9月降水量资料,按照旱涝等级标准,分别得到长江全流域、上游流域、中游流域、下游流域及其三峡库区1470—2011年旱涝等级序列。结果表明:长江各流域及其三峡库区均呈现较为明显的旱涝交替阶段,20世纪偏旱频率强烈增加,19世纪和20世纪偏涝频率明显增加。长江流域和三峡库区偏旱以上等级具有准160年周期震荡,全流域偏涝以上存在准140年的周期震荡,但20世纪后有所减弱,三峡库区偏涝以上等级存在准百年的周期震荡。三峡建坝蓄水前后库区降水EOF时空分布呈一致减少趋势,与此同时长江上游降水呈下降趋势,反映了长江上游流域及三峡库区气候趋旱;M-K突变检验显示水库蓄水前后流域上游和库区降水均未发生显著变化。在全球气候变化的背景下,三峡库区旱涝演变并不是孤立事件,而是与长江上游乃至整个长江流域旱涝背景密不可分。     

2011年中国气候概况

2011年,我国气候总体呈现暖干特征。全国年平均气温较常年偏高0．5℃,为1997年以来连续第15个暖年;年降水量556．8mm,较常年偏少9％,为1951年以来最少。年内,我国未出现大范围持续性严重干旱和流域性洪涝灾害,低温冰冻和雪灾、局地强对流、热带气旋灾害较轻。但区域性、阶段性气象灾害频发。华北、黄淮出现近41年来最重秋冬连旱;长江中下游出现近60年来最重冬春连旱,6月旱涝急转,发生暴雨洪涝灾害;西南出现近60年来最重夏秋旱;华西和黄淮秋汛明显;华南南部10月发生较重暴雨灾害;强降水造成北京等大城市发生内涝;夏季南方大部持续高温,多地高温破历史纪录;台风纳沙、梅花影响范围广、致灾程度较重。2011年中国气象灾害为正常偏轻年份,直接经济损失偏多,死亡人数和受灾面积均为1990年以来最少。     

Falling Lake Victoria water levels: Is climate a contributing factor?

Recently, and perhaps most threatening, Lake Victoria water level has been receding at an alarming rate. A recent study suggested the possibility of the expanded hydroelectric power station in Uganda. However, since the lake receives 80% of its refill through direct rainfall and only 20% from the basin discharge, climatic contributions cannot be ignored, since the 80% water is directly dependant on it. It is therefore necessary to investigate climatic contribution to the declining Lake Victoria water level observed over a long period, i.e., 30 years. This contribution uses 30 years period anomalies for rainfall, river discharge and lake level changes of stations within Lake Victoria basin to analyse linear and cyclic trends of climate indicators in relation to Lake levels. Linear trend analysis using the Student’s t test indicate a decreasing pattern in rainfall anomalies, with the slope being statistically similar to those of water levels at both Kisumu, Maziba and Jinja stations for the same period of time (1976–1999), thus showing a strong correlation. On the other hand, cyclic trend analysis using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) shows cyclic period of water level to coincide with those of droughts and rainfall. The strong relationship between climatic indicators of drought and rainfall on one-hand and lake levels on the other hand signifies the need to incorporate climate information in predicting, monitoring and managing lake level changes.