Different multi-fractal behaviors of diurnal temperature range over the north and the south of China

Multi-fractal behaviors of diurnal temperature range (DTR for short) from 100 stations over China during 1956–2010 are analyzed by means of multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis. By making a Monte-Carlo simulation, we obtain two criterions which can be used to decide whether a DTR series is significantly multi-fractal or not. With these criterions, different multi-fractal behaviors are found over the north and the south of China, and Yangtze River is roughly the dividing line. Over the north region, nearly all the considered DTR series do not show multi-fractal behaviors, while the results are completely the opposite over the south. The findings are confirmed by the scaling behaviors of the corresponding DTR magnitude series and indicate that more scale-dependent structure differences may be hidden in DTR series over the north and the south of China. Therefore, an extensive analysis of the multi-fractal behaviors are essential for a better understanding of the complex structures of the climate changes.