Climate change impacts on spatial patterns in drought risk in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, USA

Climate change is likely to lead more frequent droughts in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of America. Rising air temperature will reduce winter snowfall and increase earlier snowmelt, subsequently reducing summer flows. Longer crop-growing season caused by higher temperatures will lead to increases in evapotranspiration and irrigation water demand, which could exacerbate drought damage. However, the impacts of climate change on drought risk will vary over space and time. Thus, spatially explicit drought assessment can help water resource managers and planners to better cope with risk. This study seeks to identify possible drought-vulnerable regions in the Willamette River Basin of the PNW. In order to estimate drought risk in a spatially explicit way, relative Standardized Precipitation Index (rSPI) and relative Standardized Runoff Index (rSRI) were employed. Statistically downscaled climate simulations forcing two greenhouse gas emission scenarios, A1B and B1, were used to investigate the possible changes in drought frequency with 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month time scales. The results of rSPI and rSRI showed an increase in the short-term frequency of drought due to decreases in summer precipitation and snowmelt. However, long-term drought showed no change or a slight decreasing pattern due to increases in winter precipitation and runoff. According to the local index of spatial autocorrelation analysis, the Willamette Valley region was more vulnerable (hot spot) to drought risk than the mountainous regions of the Western Cascades and the High Cascades (cold spot). Although the hydrology of the Western Cascades and the High Cascades will be affected by climate change, these regions will remain relatively water-rich. This suggests that improving the water transfer system could be a reasonable climate adaptation option. Additionally, these results showed that the spatial patterns of drought risk change were affected by drought indices, such that appropriate drought index selection will be important in future studies of climate impacts on spatial drought risk.     

Temporal and spatial variability of rainfall over Greece

Recent studies have showed that there is a significant decrease in rainfall over Greece during the last half of the pervious century, following an overall decrease of the precipitation at the eastern Mediterranean. However, during the last decade an increase in rainfall was observed in most regions of the country, contrary to the general circulation climate models forecasts. An updated high-resolution dataset of monthly sums and annual daily maxima records derived from 136 stations during the period 1940–2012 allowed us to present some new evidence for the observed change and its statistical significance. The statistical framework used to determine the significance of the slopes in annual rain was not limited to the time independency assumption (Mann-Kendall test), but we also investigated the effect of short- and long-term persistence through Monte Carlo simulation. Our findings show that (a) change occurs in different scales; most regions show a decline since 1950, an increase since 1980 and remain stable during the last 15 years; (b) the significance of the observed decline is highly dependent to the statistical assumptions used; there are indications that the Mann-Kendall test may be the least suitable method; and (c) change in time is strongly linked with the change in space; for scales below 40 years, relatively close regions may develop even opposite trends, while in larger scales change is more uniform.     

Temporal and spatial variability of the global water balance

An analysis of simulated global water-balance components (precipitation [P], actual evapotranspiration [AET], runoff [R], and potential evapotranspiration [PET]) for the past century indicates that P has been the primary driver of variability in R. Additionally, since about 2000, there have been increases in P, AET, R, and PET for most of the globe. The increases in R during 2000 through 2009 have occurred despite unprecedented increases in PET. The increases in R are the result of substantial increases in P during the cool Northern Hemisphere months (i.e. October through March) when PET increases were relatively small; the largest PET increases occurred during the warm Northern Hemisphere months (April through September). Additionally, for the 2000 through 2009 period, the latitudinal distribution of P departures appears to co-vary with the mean P departures from 16 climate model projections of the latitudinal response of P to warming, except in the high latitudes. Finally, changes in water-balance variables appear large from the perspective of departures from the long-term means. However, when put into the context of the magnitudes of the raw water balance variable values, there appears to have been little change in any of the water-balance variables over the past century on a global or hemispheric scale.     

Spatial and temporal variability of reference evapotranspiration and influenced meteorological factors in the Jialing River Basin,China

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Reference evapotranspiration (ETr) is one of the important parameters in the hydrological cycle. The spatio-temporal variation of ETr and other meteorological...     

1960—2010年中国南方地区夏季旱涝时空分布特征

基于1960—2010年中国南方地区51 a降水资料,进行Z指数变换,再利用降水距平场作REOF分区,并分别对各区域代表站点Z指数序列作线性趋势分析和M-K分析及Morlet小波分析。结果表明：中国南方5个分区岳阳站、广州站、丽水站、信阳站和巢湖站5个典型站点的年际及年代际波动幅度都比较明显,但均呈由干变湿的趋势。且5个站点分别在1973、1993、1992、2002年和1979年发生突变,突变后UF一直呈上升趋势,总体均由干变湿5,个分区旱涝异常具有相对一致的性质。中国南方地区夏季降水具有多时间尺度振荡的特点,存在2—3 a和5—6 a的周期。     

Analysis of drought determinants for the Colorado River Basin

Ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin, unprecedented urban growth in the watershed, and numerical model simulations showing higher temperatures and lower precipitation totals in the future have all combined to heighten interest in drought in this region. In this investigation, we use principal components analysis (PCA) to independently assess the influence of various teleconnections on Basin-wide and sub-regional winter season Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI) and precipitation variations in the Basin. We find that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) explains more variance in PHDI than El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and the planetary temperature combined for the Basin as a whole. When rotated PCA is used to separate the Basin into two regions, the lower portion of the Basin is similar to the Basin as a whole while the upper portion, which contains the high-elevation locations important to hydrologic yield for the watershed, demonstrates poorly defined relationships with the teleconnections. The PHDI for the two portions of the Basin are shown to have been out of synch for much of the twentieth century. In general, teleconnection indices account for 19% of the variance in PHDI leaving large uncertainties in drought forecasting.     

Temporal and spatial variability of SSTs in the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Summary The objective of this study is to describe spatial and temporal patterns of sea-surface temperature (SST) variability in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The analysis domain extends from 40°S to 25°N and 50°W to 80°E, hence the tropical and most of the South Atlantic and central and western Indian Oceans. The investigation, covering the years 1948 to 1979, utilizes the COADS marine data set. Empirical orthogonal functions and spectral analysis are used to analyze SST fields.A major finding of this investigation is that SSTs vary coherently throughout most of the analysis domain. The greatest coherence is evident from 10°N to 30°S in the Atlantic and from 20°N to 35°S in the western Indian Ocean. Spectral analysis of regional time series shows that throughout this region the time scale of 5–6 years is the dominant one in the fluctuations; this is also the case for the Southern Oscillation and for equatorial rainfall. SST variations are roughly in-phase within each ocean and the two oceans are roughly in-phase with each other, i.e., the lags which exist are much smaller than the dominant time scale of the fluctuations. The SST anomalies appear to propagate eastward from NE Brazil; the eastern Atlantic lags the western by two to six months and the Indian Ocean lags the western Atlantic by four to eight months.With 15 Figures     

Analysis of climatic variability and snow cover in the Kaligandaki River Basin,Himalaya, Nepal

Various remote sensing products and observed data sets were used to determine spatial and temporal trends in climatic variables and their relationship with snow cover area in the higher Himalayas, Nepal. The remote sensing techniques can detect spatial as well as temporal patterns in temperature and snow cover across the inaccessible terrain. Non-parametric methods (i.e. the Mann–Kendall method and Sen's slope) were used to identify trends in climatic variables. Increasing trends in temperature, approximately by 0.03 to 0.08 °C year^?1 based on the station data in different season, and mixed trends in seasonal precipitation were found for the studied basin. The accuracy of MOD10A1 snow cover and fractional snow cover in the Kaligandaki Basin was assessed with respect to the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer-based snow cover area. With increasing trends in winter and spring temperature and decreasing trends in precipitation, a significant negative trend in snow cover area during these seasons was also identified. Results indicate the possible impact of global warming on precipitation and snow cover area in the higher mountainous area. Similar investigations in other regions of Himalayas are warranted to further strengthen the understanding of impact of climate change on hydrology and water resources and extreme hydrologic events.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Water Availability in the Yellow River Basin

The changes in hydrological processes in the Yellow River basin were simulated by using the Community Land Model(CLM,version 3.5),driven by historical climate data observed from 1951 to 2008.A comparison of modeled soil moisture and runoff with limited observations in the basin suggests a general drying trend in simulated soil moisture,runoff,and precipitation-evaporation balance(P-E) in most areas of the Yellow River basin during the observation period.Furthermore,annual soil moisture,runoff,and P-E averaged over the entire basin have declined by 3.3%,82.2%,and 32.1%,respectively.Significant drying trends in soil moisture appear in the upper and middle reaches of the basin,whereas a significant trend in declining surface runoff and P-E occurred in the middle reaches and the southeastern part of the upper reaches.The overall decreasing water availability is characterized by large spatial and temporal variability.     

贵州夏季最高气温变率的时空分布特征

选取贵州19个代表站点47 a夏季日最高气温月平均及季平均资料,采用EOF分解方法对贵州夏季最高气温的变化进行分析,结果表明:前两个模态的累积方差贡献在82%~89.7%,特征值对应特征向量和时间系数能够较好地反映时空分布特征,第一特征向量代表的空间分布显示:全省变化趋势一致,东北部变化较西南部大,北部、东北部变率变化较南部西南部大;相应地时间系数变化幅度大,都有2~4 a的周期振荡;从第二特征向量代表的空间分布可知:各时段呈现出不一样的变化趋势,时间系数的值也普遍较第一特征向量小,突变不明显。     

Impacts of internal climate variability on meteorological drought changes in China

干旱受气候内部变率和外部强迫共同影响。本文利用地球系统模式CESM对历史时期和RCP8.5下的40个集合模拟的降水资料,并结合实际观测,研究了上述两因子对气象学干旱–标准化降水指数变化的贡献。通过对干旱频率、强度、持续时间、及最长持续时间的变化分析发现:在历史时期,气候内部变率对干旱变化起主要影响,而在未来(RCP8.5)情景下,外部强迫变得更为重要。本文建议,在利用模式模拟结果研究干旱变化时应考虑气候内部变率的影响。     

泾河流域温度与器皿蒸发量时空特征及变化趋势

利用泾河流域周边14个气象站点1957～2002年逐日温度、器皿蒸发数据,分析了近45 a来气温、器皿蒸发量的时空变化特征。Mann-Kendall统计检验结果表明：泾河流域气温变化趋势与同期我国气温变化趋势基本一致,年均温存在显著变暖的总趋势,增温率为0.29℃/10 a。流域北部气候变暖趋势高于流域南部,变暖的季节主要是秋冬季节。年器皿蒸发量呈逐渐减少的趋势,倾向率为-39.3 mm/10 a,在空间上变率表现为流域南部、北部减少趋势明显,中部变化趋势不明显。     

长江上游流域秋季连阴雨时空变化特征

利用长江上游259个气象站逐日降水资料,采用线性趋势分析方法,分析了近1961—2012年来长江上游流域秋季连阴雨的时空变化特征。结果表明,长江上游流域秋季连阴雨过程平均出现1.54次/a,其中9月出现次数最多,10月次之,11月出现较少。秋季连阴雨日数、累积降水量分别以2.3 d/(10 a)、13.7 mm/(10 a)的速率显著减少,连阴雨开始和结束日期平均为9月9日和9月30日均表现出推迟趋势。进入21世纪后,5—9 d、10 d以上连阴雨过程的次数、80.0 mm以上连阴雨过程的次数均表现出减少趋势。金沙江下游和四川盆地东部为秋季连阴雨累计雨量及其变化速率的大值中心,四川盆地西南部为连阴雨日数及其变化速率的大值中心。9月的降水中心、雨日分布情况与秋季总体情况基本一致,10月降水中心、阴雨日数的中心出现了明显东撤,11月东撤更为明显。     

Quantifying the effects of climate variability and human activities on runoff for Kaidu River Basin in arid region of northwest China

Much attention has recently been focused on the effects that climate variability and human activities have had on runoff. In this study, data from the Kaidu River Basin in the arid region of northwest China were analyzed to investigate changes in annual runoff during the period of 1960–2009. The nonparametric Mann–Kendall test and the Mann–Kendall–Sneyers test were used to identify trend and step change point in the annual runoff. It was found that the basin had a significant increasing trend in annual runoff. Step change point in annual runoff was identified in the basin, which occurred in the year around 1993 dividing the long-term runoff series into a natural period (1960–1993) and a human-induced period (1994–2009). Then, the hydrologic sensitivity analysis method was employed to evaluate the effects of climate variability and human activities on mean annual runoff for the human-induced period based on precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. In 1994–2009, climate variability was the main factor that increased runoff with contribution of 90.5 %, while the increasing percentage due to human activities only accounted for 9.5 %, showing that runoff in the Kaidu River Basin is more sensitive to climate variability than human activities. This study quantitatively distinguishes the effects between climate variability and human activities on runoff, which can do duty for a reference for regional water resources assessment and management.     

Spatiotemporal variations of precipitation regimes across Yangtze River Basin,China

Daily precipitation data during the period of 1960 to 2005 from 147 rain gauging stations over the Yangtze River Basin are analyzed to investigate precipitation variations based on precipitation indices and also consecutive rainfall regimes in both space and time. Results indicate decreasing annual/monthly mean precipitation. Distinct decreases in rainfall days are observed over most parts of the Yangtze River Basin, but precipitation intensity is increasing over most parts of the Yangtze River Basin, particularly the lower Yangtze River Basin. Besides, durations of precipitation regimes are shortening; however, the fractional contribution of short-lasting precipitation regimes to the total precipitation amount is increasing. In this sense, the precipitation processes in the Yangtze River Basin are dominated by precipitation regimes of shorter durations. These results indicate intensified hydrological cycle reflected by shortening precipitation regimes. This finding is different from that in Europe where the intensifying precipitation changes are reflected mainly by lengthening precipitation regimes, implying different regional responses of hydrological cycle to climate changes. The results of this study will be of considerable relevance in basin-scale water resources management, human mitigation of natural hazards, and in understanding regional hydrological responses to changing climate at regional scales.     

1964-2008年辽宁省旱涝时空分布特征及演变趋势

利用1964—2008年辽宁51站降水量资料,采用Z指数和区域旱涝HL指数分析了全区近45a旱涝变化。结果表明：近45a辽西、辽北以及辽东南地区单站旱涝发生频率均明显高于辽中、辽东地区;区域性洪涝指数逐渐减小,区域性干旱指数逐步增大。对辽宁51站Z指数进行了EOF和REOF分析,可知辽宁旱涝的空间分布特征除受大尺度天气系统所带来的降水量变化影响外,同时还受地理位置、海陆分布等多种因子影响。通过REOF方法可将全区分为4个区域,即Ⅰ辽西地区,Ⅱ辽北、辽西北地区,Ⅲ辽中、辽东地区和Ⅳ辽东南地区。     

疏勒河流域气候变化情景下的适应对策

疏勒河是中国河西走廊3大内陆河水系之一,近100 a受气候变化及人类活动的影响显著。采用实地考察和社会问卷调查的方法,评价当地适应气候变化的能力,进而提出对当地社会经济发展具有建设性的适应对策。研究表明,疏勒河流域适应气候变化的能力较低,主要表现在：气候变化明显,河流水量减少;疏勒河上游地区草场退化严重;牧民适应气候变化能力有限并有所减弱;城乡居民收入差距进一步加大,不利于社会的稳定发展。政策建议是：加强各级政府间的协作和政府部门的引导作用,统一利用和管理流域水资源;加强对低文化层次人群的教育工作;加速农村剩余劳动力向城市转移;继续实行生态环保政策;优化产业结构。