Precipitation extremes in the Yangtze River Basin,China: regional frequency and spatial–temporal patterns

Regional frequency analysis and spatial–temporal patterns of precipitation extremes are investigated based on daily precipitation data covering 1960–2009 using the index-flood L-moments method together with some advanced statistical tests and spatial analysis techniques. The results indicate that: (1) the entire Yangtze River basin can be divided into six homogeneous regions in terms of extreme daily precipitation index. Goodness-of-fit test indicates that Pearson type III (PE3, three parameters), general extreme-value (GEV, three parameters), and general normal (GNO, three parameters) perform well in fitting regional precipitation extremes; (2) the regional growth curves for each homogeneous region with 99 % error bands show that the quantile estimates are reliable enough and can be used when return periods are less than 100 years, and the results indicate that extreme precipitation events are highly probable to occur in regions V and VI, and hence higher risk of floods and droughts; and (3) spatial patterns of annual extreme daily precipitation with return period of 20 years indicate that precipitation amount increases gradually from the upper to the lower Yangtze River basin, showing higher risks of floods and droughts in the middle and lower Yangtze River basin, and this result is in good agreement with those derived from regional growth curves.     

Trends in extreme temperature indices in Huang-Huai-Hai River Basin of China during 1961–2014

Spatial and temporal characteristics of temperature extremes have been investigated in Huang-Huai-Hai (HHH) region based on the daily series of temperature observations from 162 meteorological stations. A total of 11 indices were used to assess the changes of temperature pattern. Linear trend analyses revealed that the daily maximum temperature (TXx) increased at α = 0.05 level with a magnitude of 0.15 °C per decade on the regional scale during the period of 1961–2014. More pronounced warming trend of the daily minimum temperature (TNn) was detected at a rate of 0.49 °C per decade (α = 0.01 level). Consequently, a decreasing trend of the temperature range of TXx and TNn (extreme temperature range) was observed. The frequency of hot days (TXf90) and annual average of warm events (warm spell duration indicator, WSDI) showed significant increasing trends, while that of cold nights (TNf10) and cold events (cold spell duration indicator, CSDI) showed opposite behaviors. Both warm winter (W-W) and hot summer (H-S) series displayed significant increasing trends at α = 0.01 confidence level. The cold winter (C-W) series showed a decreasing trend at α = 0.01 confidence level, while the cool summer (C-S) series showed a nonsignificant decreasing trend that is not passing the 90% confidence level (α = 0.1). Abrupt increments of warm­related extremes (TXx, TXf90, WSDI) have been detected since 1990s, and a steadily decreasing trend of cold related extremes (TNf10, CSDI) was found since 1970s. Ten hot summers out of 11 and nine warm winters out of 10 occurred after 1990s. Altitude has a large impact on spatial pattern of extreme temperature indices, and the urban heat island effect also has an impact on amplitude of variation in extreme temperature. Trend magnitudes are significantly larger at sites with high altitudes for warm­related indices (TXx, TXf90, WSDI), while those involving cold-related indices (TNn, TNf10) are remarkably larger for stations with low altitudes.     

Trends in temperature extremes over nine integrated agricultural regions in China, 1961–2011

By characterizing the patterns of temperature extremes over nine integrated agricultural regions (IARs) in China from 1961 to 2011, this study performed trend analyses on 16 extreme temperature indices using a high-resolution (0.5° × 0.5°) daily gridded dataset and the Mann-Kendall method. The results show that annually, at both daytime and nighttime, cold extremes significantly decreased but warm extremes significantly increased across all IARs. Overall, nighttimes tended to warm faster than daytimes. Diurnal temperature ranges (DTR) diminished, apart from the mid-northern Southwest China Region and the mid-Loess Plateau Region. Seasonally, DTR widely diminished across all IARs during the four seasons except for spring. Higher minimum daily minimum temperature (TNn) and maximum daily maximum temperature (TXx), in both summer and winter, were recorded for most IARs except for the Huang-Huai-Hai Region; in autumn, all IARs generally encountered higher TNn and TXx. In all seasons, warming was observed at daytime and nighttime but, again, nighttimes warmed faster than daytimes. The results also indicate a more rapid warming trend in Northern and Western China than in Southern and Eastern China, with accelerated warming at high elevations. The increases in TNn and TXx might cause a reduction in agriculture yield in spring over Northern China, while such negative impact might occur in Southern China during summer. In autumn and winter, however, the negative impact possibly occurred in most of the IARs. Moreover, increased TXx in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta is possibly related to rapid local urbanization. Climatically, the general increase in temperature extremes across Chinese IARs may be induced by strengthened Northern Hemisphere Subtropical High or weakened Northern Hemisphere Polar Vortex.

     

Trends of precipitation extremes during 1960–2008 in Xinjiang, the Northwest China

The spatial–temporal variability of the precipitation extremes defined by eight precipitation indices based on daily precipitation dataset was analyzed using the linear regression method and the Mann–Kendall test. The results indicate that increasing trends in the precipitation amount, rainy days, and the intensity of the extreme precipitation were identified at above 70 % of the total rain stations considered in this study, with more than 30 % of them were significant, while most stations show notable decreasing trend in the annual maximum consecutive no-rain days. Significantly increasing trends of the precipitation extremes are observed mainly in the northern Xinjiang and the north of the southern Xinjiang. Most extreme precipitation indices show a potential regime shift starting from the middle of 1980s. The magnitude of the trends is compatible with their pattern of spatial stability. The generally increasing trends in precipitation extremes are found in this study.     

Changes in temperature extremes based on a 6-hourly dataset in China from 1961–2005

Changes in Chinese temperature extremes are presented based on a six-hourly surface air temperature dataset for the period 1961--2005. These temperature series are manually observed at 0200, 0800, 1400, and 2000 Beijing Time (LST), and percentile based extreme indices of these time series are chosen for analysis. Although there is a difference in time among the different time zones across China, as more than 80% of the stations are located in two adjacent time zones, these indices for all the stations are called warm (cold) nights (0200 LST), warm (cold) mornings (0800 LST), warm (cold) days (1400 LST), and warm (cold) evenings (2000 LST), respectively for convenience. The frequency of the annual warm extremes has generally increased, while the frequency of the annual cold extremes has decreased, and significant changes are mainly observed in northern China, the Tibetan Plateau, and the southernmost part of China. Based on the national average, annual warm (cold) nights increase (decrease) at a rate of 5.66 (-5.92) d (10 yr)^-1, annual warm (cold) days increase (decrease) at a rate of 3.97 (-2.98) d (10 yr)^-1, and the trends for the annual warm (cold) mornings and evenings are 4.35 (-4.96) and 5.95 (-4.35) d (10 yr)^-1, respectively. For China as a whole, the increasing rates for the occurrence of seasonal warm extremes are larger in the nighttime (0200, 2000 LST) than these in the daytime (0800, 1400 LST), the maximal increase occurs at 2000 LST except in the summer and the minimal increase occurs at 1400 LST except in autumn; the maximal decrease in the occurrence of seasonal cold extremes occurs at 0200 LST and the minimal decrease occurs at 1400 LST.     

High temperature extremes in the Czech Republic 1961–2010 and their synoptic variants

Our research focuses on the analysis of extreme high maximum air temperature events (EXHTEs) in the Czech Republic in the period 1961–2010, their climatological characteristics, and on the identification of synoptic-scale circulation conditions conductive to them. EXHTEs are detected using the Weather Extremity Index (WEI) combining return periods of daily maximum air temperature, duration of events, and the extent of the affected area. We selected 37 EXHTEs as non-overlapping periods with the highest WEI. Some long EXHTEs were divided into several shorter synoptically homogeneous episodes. Using the two-level divisive clustering of 700 hPa air temperature and wind field anomalies, we obtained four main variants of synoptic-scale circulation conditions. The most frequent variant associated with extreme episodes is characterized by a westerly flow connected with a high pressure ridge extending northeastward from North Africa over Central Europe or with an anticyclone centered over the Central Mediterranean. The most extreme episodes occurred during the variant characterized by an easterly flow between a high pressure area to the northeast and a low pressure area to the southeast.     

Estimate of Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions for 2012–16 in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Hydrofluorocarbons(HFCs) have been widely used in China as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances,the production and use of which are being phased out under the Montreal Protocol.China is a major consumer of HFCs around the world,with its HFC emissions in CO_2-equivalent contributing to about 18% of the global emissions for the period2012-16.Three methods are widely used to estimate the emissions of HFCs-namely,the bottom-up method,top-down method and tracer ratio method.In this study,the tracer ratio method was adopted to estimate HFC emissions in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD),using CO as a tracer.The YRD region might make a significant contribution to Chinese totals owing to its rapid economic growth.Weekly flask measurements for ten HFCs(HFC-23,HFC-32,HFC-125,HFC-134 a,HFC-143 a,HFC-152 a,HFC-227 ea,HFC-236 fa,HFC-245 fa and HFC-365 mfc) were conducted at Lin'an Regional Background Station in the YRD over the period 2012-16,and the HFC emissions were 2.4±1.4 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-23,2.8±1.2 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-32,2.2±1.2 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-125,4.8±4.8 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-134 a,0.9±0.6 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-152 a,0.3±0.3 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-227 ea and 0.3±0.2 Gg yr~(-1) for HFC-245 fa.The YRD total HFC emissions reached 53 Gg CO_2-e yr~(-1),contributing 34% of the national total.The per capita HFC CO_2-equivalent emissions rate was 240 kg yr-1,while the values of per unit area emissions and per million GDP emissions reached 150 Mg km~(-2)yr~(-1) and 3500 kg yr~(-1)(million CNY GDP)-1,which were much higher than national or global levels.     

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.     

Attribution of Persistent Precipitation in the Yangtze–Huaihe River Basin during February 2019

In February 2019, a month-long persistent precipitation event occurred in the Yangtze–Huaihe River basin. The geopotential height field that affected the duration of this frontal rainfall was divided into a high-latitude part and a lowlatitude part for analysis. In the high-latitude part, a two-wave structure led to quasi-stationary circulation, and the change of both the blocking high pressure and Arctic Oscillation phase caused cold air to invade South China continuously and changed the fronta...     

Trends in precipitation parameters in the climate zones of southern Russia (1961–2011)

The data of 19 weather stations for 1961-2011 on total and maximum daily precipitation for the plain (<500 m above the sea level), foothill (500-1000 m), and mountain (1000-2000 m) zones of the south of European Russia are used for analyzing the precipitation regime, investigating its trends, revealing the extremes, and making conclusions on zonal seasonal and annual variations in precipitation.     

Spatiotemporal Variability of Surface Wind Speed during 1961–2017 in the Jing–Jin–Ji Region,China

Wind speed variations are influenced by both natural climate and human activities. It is important to understand the spatial and temporal distributions of wind speed and to analyze the cause of its changes. In this study, data from 26 meteorological stations in the Jing–Jin–Ji region of North China from 1961 to 2017 are analyzed by using the Mann–Kendall(MK) test. Over the study period, wind speed first decreased by-0.028 m s-1 yr-1(p 0.01) in1961–1991, and then increased by 0.002 m s1-yr1-(p 0.05) in 1992–2017. Wind speed was the highest in spring(2.98 m s-1), followed by winter, summer, and autumn. The largest wind speed changes for 1961–1991 and1992–2017 occurred in winter(-0.0392 and 0.0065 m s-1 yr1-, respectively); these values represented 36% and 58%of the annual wind speed changes. More than 90.4% of the wind speed was concentrated in the range of 1–5 m s-1,according to the variation in the number of days with wind speed of different grades. Specifically, the decrease in wind speed in 1961–1991 was due to the decrease in days with wind speed of 3–5 m s-1, while the increase in wind speed in 1992–2017 was mainly due to the increase in days with wind speed of 2–4 m s-1. In terms of driving factors,variations in wind speed were closely correlated with temperature and atmospheric pressure, whereas elevation and underlying surface also influenced these changes.     

Low-cloud and sunshine duration in the low-latitude belt of South China for the period 1961�C2005

In order to explore the trends in sunshine duration in the low-latitude belt of South China, long-term sunshine duration, total clouds, low clouds, and visibility were investigated for the period 1961?C2005. The results show significant declines in sunshine duration, occurring on the average of ?3.2% and ?2.8% per decade under all-sky and clear-sky conditions, respectively. It is noted that increased air aerosol loading due to rapid socio-economic development is the drive behind the sharp declines in sunshine duration in the study area. Though cloud is the primary regulator of sunshine duration under all-sky conditions, sunshine is strongly correlated with visibility under clear-sky conditions. Relational analysis between sunshine and cloud amount suggests 0.4% change in clouds per decade, which is well in agreement with the trend of decline in sunshine duration under all-sky conditions in the study area. Increasing low-cloud opacity could be the primary factor driving the decline in sunshine duration in the low-latitude belt of South China.     

Projections of temperature and precipitation extremes in the North Western Mediterranean Basin by dynamical downscaling of climate scenarios at high resolution (1971–2050)

The North Western Mediterranean basin (NWMB) is characterised by a highly complex topography and an important variability of temperature and precipitation patterns. Downscaling techniques are required to capture these features, identify the most vulnerable areas to extreme changes and help decision makers to design strategies of mitigation and adaptation to climate change. A Regional Climate Model, WRF-ARW, is used to downscale the IPCC-AR4 ECHAM5/MPI-OM General Circulation Model results with high resolution (10 km), considering three different emissions scenarios (B1, A1B and A2) for 2001–2050. Model skills to reproduce observed extremes are assessed for a control period, 1971–2000, using the ERA40 reanalysis to drive the WRF-ARW simulations. A representative set of indices for temperature and precipitation extremes is projected. The modelling system correctly reproduces amplitude and frequency of extremes and provides a high degree of detail on variability over neighbouring areas. However, it tends to overestimate the persistence of wet events and consequently slightly underestimate the length of dry periods. Drier and hotter conditions are generally projected for the NWMB, with significant increases in the duration of droughts and the occurrence of heavy precipitation events. The projected increase in the number of tropical nights and extreme temperatures could have a negative effect on human health and comfort conditions. Simulations allow defining specifically vulnerable areas, such as the Ebro Valley or the Pyrenees, and foreseeing impacts on socio-economic activities in the region.     

Quantifying the effects of climate trends in the past 43 years (1961–2003) on crop growth and water demand in the North China Plain

This paper explores changes in climatic variables, including solar radiation, rainfall, fraction of diffuse radiation (FDR) and temperature, during wheat season (October to May) and maize season (June to September) from 1961 to 2003 at four sites in the North China Plain (NCP), and then evaluates the effects of these changes on crop growth processes, productivity and water demand by using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator. A significant decline in radiation and rainfall was detected during the 43 years, while both temperature and FDR exhibit an increasing trend in both wheat and maize seasons. The average trend of each climatic variable for each crop season from the four sites is that radiation decreased by 13.2 and 6.2 MJ m^?2 a^?1, precipitation decreased by 0.1 and 1.8 mm a^?1, minimum temperature increased by 0.05 and 0.02°C a^?1, maximum temperature increased by 0.03 and 0.01°C a^?1, FDR increased by 0.21 and 0.38% a^?1 during wheat and maize season, respectively. Simulated crop water demand and potential yield was significantly decreased because of the declining trend in solar radiation. On average, crop water demand was decreased by 2.3 mm a^?1 for wheat and 1.8 mm a^?1 for maize if changes in crop variety were not considered. Simulated potential crop yields under fully irrigated condition declined about 45.3 kg ha^?1 a^?1 for wheat and 51.4 kg ha^?1 a^?1 for maize at the northern sites, Beijing and Tianjin. They had no significant changes in the southern sites, Jinan and Zhengzhou. Irrigation, fertilization development and crop variety improvement are main factors to contribute to the increase in actual crop yield for the wheat–maize double cropping system, contrasted to the decline in the potential crop yield. Further research on how the improvement in crop varieties and management practices can counteract the impact of climatic change may provide insight into the future sustainability of wheat–maize double crop rotations in the NCP.     

Evolution of meteorological drought characteristics in Vietnam during the 1961–2007 period

The drought conditions over the seven sub-climatological regions in Vietnam are examined using three meteorological drought indices: de Martonne J, PED, and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). According to the seasonal probabilities of drought occurrence estimated by the de Martonne index, droughts mainly occur between November and March in all the sub-regions. The PED index and the SPI index generally show high probabilities of drought occurrence from April to August and from May to October, respectively. In the southern sub-regions of Vietnam, droughts more frequently occur in El Niño years and wet conditions are more frequently observed in La Niña years. However, such El Niño–Southern Oscillation influences are not clearly observed in the northern sub-regions. During 1961–2007, droughts significantly increased in the northern part of Vietnam. In the southern regions, PED shows increasing drought conditions while J and SPI show decreasing drought trends for almost all the stations.