Spatiotemporal changes in frequency and intensity of high-temperature events in China during 1961–2014

In this study, we explored spatial patterns and the temporal trends in high-temperature events (HTEs) for the mainland of China during 1961–2014 based on a daily- maximum surface-air-temperature dataset of 494 stations and nonparametric trend detection methods. With three thresholds of 35°C (HTE35), 37°C (HTE37), and 40°C (HTE40), HTEs occurred in 82%, 71%, and 37% of the surveyed stations and showed an overall increasing trend in both frequency and intensity during 1961–2014. In northern and southeastern China, HTEs showed a significant increasing trend in both frequency and intensity, whilst a decreasing trend for both was observed in central China. Despite such regional heterogeneity, HTEs overwhelmingly presented three-phase characteristics in all three representative regions and throughout China; the phases are 1961–1980, 1980–1990, and 1990–2014. Both frequency and intensity of HTEs have strongly increased during 1990–2014 at 54.86%, 48.38%, and 23.28% of the investigated stations for HTE35, HTE37 and HTE40, respectively. These findings implied that HTEs adaptation should be paid further attention in the future over China because the wide spread distribution of HTEs and their increasing trends in both frequency and intensity during recent decades might pose challenges to the sustainability of human society and the ecosystem.     

Population distribution patterns and changes in China 1953–2010

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This study uses six censuses (1953, 1964, 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010) at the county level since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China to examine...     

Spatial distribution of maize in response to climate change in northeast China during 1980–2010

Based on county-level crop statistics and other ancillary information, spatial distribution of maize in the major maize-growing areas (latitudes 39°–48°N) was modelled for the period 1980–2010 by using a cross-entropy-based spatial allocation model. Maize extended as far north as the northern part of the Lesser Khingan Mountains during the period, and the area sown to maize increased by about 5 million ha. More than half of the increase occurred before 2000, and more than 80% of it in the climate transitional zone, where the annual accumulated temperature (AAT) was 2800–3400 °C·d. Regions with AAT of 3800–4000 °C·d became more important, accounting for more than 25% of the increase after 2000. The expansion of maize was thus closely related to warming, although some variation in the distribution was noticed across zones in relation to the warming, indicating that maize in northeast China may have adapted successfully to the warming by adjusting its spatial distribution to match the changed climate.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal precipitation and their relationships with ENSO in Central Asia during 1901–2013

The vulnerable ecosystem of the arid and semiarid region in Central Asia is sensitive to precipitation variations. Long-term changes of the seasonal precipitation can reveal the evolution rules of the precipitation climate. Therefore, in this study, the changes of the seasonal precipitation over Central Asia have been analyzed during the last century (1901–2013) based on the latest global monthly precipitation dataset Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) Full Data Reanalysis Version 7, as well as their relations with El Niño- Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Results show that the precipitation in Central Asia is mainly concentrated in spring and summer seasons, especially in spring. For the whole study period, increasing trends were found in spring and winter, while decreasing trends were detected in summer and fall. Inter-annual signals with 3–7 years multi-periods were derived to explain the dominant components for seasonal precipitation variability. In terms of the dominant spatial pattern, Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) results show that the spatial distribution of EOF-1 mode in summer is different from those of the other seasons during 1901–2013. Moreover, significant ENSO-associated changes in precipitation are evident during the fall, winter, spring, and absent during summer. The lagged associations between ENSO and seasonal precipitation are also obtained in Central Asia. The ENSO-based composite analyses show that these water vapor fluxes of spring, fall and winter precipitation are mainly generated in Indian and North Atlantic Oceans during El Niño. The enhanced westerlies strengthen the western water vapor path for Central Asia, thereby causing a rainy winter.     

Spatio-temporal analysis of land-use conversion in the eastern coastal China during 1996–2005

Based on the acquaintance of the regional background of urban-rural transformational development and investigations on the spot,this paper discusses the holistic situation, dominant factors and mechanism of arable land loss and land for construction occupation in the coastal area of China over the last decade,with the aid of GIS technology.Conclusions of the research are summarized as follows：（1）the arable land had been continuously decreasing from 1996 to 2005,with a loss of 1,708,700 hm^2 and an average decrement of 170,900 hm^2 per year;（2）land for construction increased 1,373,700 hm^2 ,with an average increment of 153,200 hm^2 per year;（3）total area of encroachment on arable land for construction between 1996 and 2005 was 1,053,100 hm^2 ,accounting for 34.03%of the arable land loss in the same period,the percentages of which used for industrial land（INL）,transportation land（TRL）,rural construction land（RUL）and town construction land（TOL）are 45.03%,15.8%,15.47%and 11.5%,respectively;and（4）the fluctuation of the increase of construction land and encroachment on arable land in the area were deeply influenced by the nation＇s macroscopic land-use policies and development level of regional economy.The growth of population and advancement of technology promoted the rapid industrialization, construction of transportation infrastructures,rural urbanization and expansion of rural settlements in the eastern coastal area,and therefore were the primary driving forces of land-use conversion.     

Monitoring periodically national land use changes and analyzing their spatiotemporal patterns in China during 2015–2020

Journal of Geographical Sciences - High-resolution mapping and monitoring of national land use/cover changes contribute significantly to the knowledge of the interaction between human activities...     

Climatic characteristics of high temperature in East China during 1961–2005

Based on the daily maximum temperature data covering the period 1961-2005, temporal and spatial characteristics and their changing in mean annual and monthly high temperature days（HTDs）and the mean daily maximum temperature（MDMT）during annual and monthly HTDs in East China were studied.The results show that the mean annual HTDs were 15.1 and the MDMT during annual HTDs was 36.3℃in the past 45 years.Both the mean annual HTDs and the MDMT during annual HTDs were negative anomaly in the1980s and positive anomaly in the other periods of time,oscillating with a cycle of about 12-15 years.The mean annual HTDs were more in the southern part,but less in the northern part of East China.The MDMT during annual HTDs was higher in Zhejiang,Anhui and Jiangxi provinces in the central and western parts of East China.The high temperature process（HTP） was more in the southwestern part,but less in northeastern part of East China.Both the HTDs and the numbers of HTP were at most in July,and the MDMT during monthly HTDs was also the highest in July.In the first 5 years of the 21st century,the mean annual HTDs and the MDMT during annual HTDs increased at most of the stations,both the mean monthly HTDs and the MDMT during monthly HTDs were positive anomalies from April to October,the number of each type of HTP generally was at most and the MDMT in each type of HTP was also the highest.     

Spatio-temporal distribution and transformation of cropland in geomorphologic regions of China during 1990–2015

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Landforms are an important factor determining the spatial pattern of cropland through allocation of surface water and heat. Therefore, it is of great importance...     

Temporal-spatial characteristics of observed key parameters of snow cover in China during 1957–2009

Using observed snow cover data from Chinese meteorological stations, this study indicated that annual mean snow depth, Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), and snow density during 1957–2009 were 0.49 cm, 0.7 mm, and 0.14 g/cm³ over China as a whole, respectively. On average, they were all the smallest in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), and were greater in northwestern China (NW). Spatially, the regions with greater annual mean snow depth and SWE were located in northeastern China including eastern Inner Mongolia (NE), northern Xinjiang municipality, and a small fraction of southwestern QTP. Annual mean snow density was below 0.14 g/cm³ in most of China, and was higher in the QTP, NE, and NW. The trend analyses revealed that both annual mean snow depth and SWE presented increasing trends in NE, NW, the QTP, and China as a whole during 1957–2009. Although the trend in China as a whole was not significant, the amplitude of variation became increasingly greater in the second half of the 20th century. Spatially, the statistically significant (95%-level) positive trends for annual mean snow depth were located in western and northern NE, northwestern Xinjiang municipality, and northeastern QTP. The distribution of positive and negative trends for annual mean SWE were similar to that of snow depth in position, but not in range. The range with positive trends of SWE was not as large as that of snow depth, but the range with negative trends was larger.     

Distribution and trend in the thermal growing season in China during 1961–2015

Abstract

Based on daily mean temperature at 1863 meteorological stations in China, the trend in the thermal growing season was investigated and time-evolving probability distributions of temperature were examined. Results showed that during 1961–2015, the growing season was extended at rates of 1.5–5.0 days decade^?1 in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, and western and central parts of Southwest China. This change was ascribed to an earlier start of the growing season at rates of 1.5–3.0 days decade^?1 in North China, the northern and western parts of Northeast China, and the northeastern part of Northwest China, and a later end at rates of 0.5–2.5 days decade^?1 in Northwest China, the western and northern parts of Southwest China, and the northwest of North China. The earlier start of the growing season was in accordance with the rapid warming of lower portions of the spring temperature distribution in Northeast China, North China, and Northwest China. The later end of the growing season corresponded to rapid warming in the lower percentiles of autumn temperature distribution in Northwest China. The growing season is more sensitive to warming of lower percentiles of temperature distribution than other portions.     

Urban land expansion and its driving factors of mountain cities in China during 1990–2015

Land expansion of mountain cities in China is not systematically studied yet. This study identified 55 major mountain cities at and above prefecture level, and analyzed the land expansion characteristics and driving forces, based on visually interpreted data from TM images in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015. From 1990 to 2015, total built-up land area of the mountain cities increased by 3.87 times, 5.56% per year. The urban land growth was apparently accelerated after 2000, from 4.35% per year during 1990–2000 increased to 6.47% during 2000–2010 and 6.2% during 2010–2015. Compared to the urban population growth, the urban land expansion rate was 44% higher. As a result, the urban land area per capita increased, but it was still within the government control target, and also was much lower than the average of all cities in China. Urban development policy, changes to administrative divisions, GDP and population growth, and road construction were identified as the major driving forces of land expansion. Terrain conditions were not found a relevance to the urban land expansion rate during 1990–2015, but had a significant impact on the layout and shape, and also probably on the urban land efficiency.     

Spatio-temporal variations in extreme drought in China during 1961–2015

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Understanding the past variations in extreme drought is especially beneficial to the improvement of drought resistance planning and drought risk management in...     

Radiative forcing over China due to albedo change caused by land cover change during 1990–2010

Land cover change affects surface radiation budget and energy balance by chang- ing surface albedo and further impacts the regional and global climate. In this article, high spatial and temporal resolution satellite products were used to analyze the driving mechanism for surface albedo change caused by land cover change during 1990-2010. In addition, the annual-scale radiative forcing caused by surface albedo changes in China＇s 50 ecological regions were calculated to reveal the biophysical mechanisms of land cover change affecting climate change at regional scale. Our results showed that the national land cover changes were mainly caused by land reclamation, grassland desertification and urbanization in past 20 years, which were almost induced by anthropogenic activities. Grassland and forest area decreased by 0.60% and 0.11%, respectively. The area of urban and farmland increased by 0.60% and 0.19%, respectively. The mean radiative forcing caused by land cover changes during 1990-2010 was 0.062 W/m2 in China, indicating a warming climate effect. However, spatial heterogeneity of radiative forcing was huge among different ecological regions. Farmland conversing to urban construction land, the main type of land cover change for the urban and suburban agricultural ecological region in Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region, caused an albedo reduction by 0.00456 and a maximum positive radiative forcing of 0.863 WIm2, which was presented as warming climate effects. Grassland and forest conversing to farmland, the main type of land cover change for the temperate humid agricultural and wetland ecological region in Sanjiang Plain, caused an albedo increase by 0.00152 and a maximum negative radiative forcing of 0.184 W/m2, implying cooling climate effects.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics,patterns and causes of land use changes in China since the late 1980s简

Land-use/land-cover changes （LUCCs） have links to both human and nature inter- actions. China＇s Land-Use/cover Datasets （CLUDs） were updated regularly at 5-year inter- vals from the late 1980s to 2010, with standard procedures based on Landsat TM／ETM＋ im- ages. A land-use dynamic regionalization method was proposed to analyze major land-use conversions. The spatiotemporal characteristics, differences, and causes of land-use changes at a national scale were then examined. The main findings are summarized as fol- lows. Land-use changes （LUCs） across China indicated a significant variation in spatial and temporal characteristics in the last 20 years （1990-2010）. The area of cropland change de- creased in the south and increased in the north, but the total area remained almost un- changed. The reclaimed cropland was shifted from the northeast to the northwest. The built-up lands expanded rapidly, were mainly distributed in the east, and gradually spread out to central and western China. Woodland decreased first, and then increased, but desert area was the opposite. Grassland continued decreasing. Different spatial patterns of LUC in China were found between the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The original 13 LUC zones were replaced by 15 units with changes of boundaries in some zones. The main spatial characteristics of these changes included （1） an accelerated expansion of built-up land in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, the southeastern coastal areas, the midstream area of the Yangtze River, and the Sichuan Basin; （2） shifted land reclamation in the north from northeast China and eastern Inner Mongolia to the oasis agricultural areas in northwest China; （3） continuous transformation from rain-fed farmlands in northeast China to paddy fields; and （4） effective- ness of the ＂Grain for Green＂ project in the southern agricultural-pastoral ecotones of Inner Mongolia, the Loess Plateau, and southwestern mountainous areas. In the last two decades, although climate change in the north affected the change in cropland, policy regulation and economic driving forces were still the primary causes of LUC across China. During the first decade of the 21st century, the anthropogenic factors that drove variations in land-use pat- terns have shifted the emphasis from one-way land development to both development and conservation. The ＂dynamic regionalization method＂ was used to analyze changes in the spatial patterns of zoning boundaries, the internal characteristics of zones, and the growth and decrease of units. The results revealed ＂the pattern of the change process,＂ namely the process of LUC and regional differences in characteristics at different stages. The growth and decrease of zones during this dynamic LUC zoning, variations in unit boundaries, and the characteristics of change intensities between the former and latter decades were examined. The patterns of alternative transformation between the ＂pattern＂ and ＂process＂ of land use and the causes for changes in different types and different regions of land use were explored.     

Spatial-temporal patterns of China’s interprovincial migration, 1985–2010

Migration plays an increasing role in China＇s economy since mobility rose and economic restructuring has proceeded during the last three decades. Given the background of most studies focusing on migration in a particular period, there is a critical need to analyze the spatial-temporal patterns of migration. Using bicomponent trend mapping technique and interprovincial migration data during the periods 1985-1990, 1990-1995, 1995-2000, 2000- 2005, and 2005-2010 we analyze net-, in-, out-migration intensity, and their changes over time in this study. Strong spatial variations in migration intensity were found in China＇s interprovincial migration, and substantial increase in migration intensity was also detected in eastern China during 1985-2010. Eight key destinations are mostly located within the three rapidly growing economic zones of eastern China （Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region）, and they are classified into three types： mature, emerging, and fluctuant origins, while most key origins are relatively undeveloped central and western provinces, which are exactly in accordance with China＇s economic development patterns. The results of bicomponent trend mapping indicate that, in a sense, the migration in the south was more active than the north over the last three decades. The result shows the new changing features of spatial-temporal patterns of China＇s interprovincial migration that Fan and Chen did not find out in their research. A series of social-economic changes including rural transformation, balanced regional development, and labor market changes should be paid more attention to explore China＇s future interprovincial migration.     

Spatiotemporal evolution and driving factors of urban-rural integration in China北大核心CSCD

Urban-rural integration (URI) is a new idea to guide the urban-rural transformation in China, and exploring the spatio-temporal characteristics and driving mechanism of URI in China is an urgent need to overcome the dilemmas of insufficient rural development and unbalanced urban and rural development. Based on the process framework of "foundation-motivation-result" of URI, an evaluation indicator system was constructed. The improved entropy evaluation model and the kernel density estimation method were used to quantitatively measure the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of URI level of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China's mainland from 2000 to 2020. This study further used the Geodetector to explore the heterogeneous evolution of driving factors for URI level in different regions of China. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) From 2000 to 2020, the URI level in China decreased first and then increased, showing a √-shaped trend, and its spatial differences narrowed. 2) The URI level in China presented a spatial pattern of high in the east and low in the west, divided by the Hu Huanyong Line. The high-value centers showed prominent polarization characteristics and presented a zonal aggregation trend. The medium-value areas were clustered but weakened,and showed a spreading trend from the eastern to the central and western parts. 3) At the national scale, the core influencing factors of URI level were population mobility, economic development level, urban-rural income gap, and educational supports, potential factors were the optimization of industrial structure and the opening-up level, and threshold effect existed in investment benefit and government intervention. At the regional scale, the core driving forces of URI level in China showed obvious spatial heterogeneity, and in 2020 they were economic development level, investment benefit, and government intervention in the eastern region, investment benefit, opening-up level, and urban-rural income gap in the central region, are educational supports, government intervention, and the optimization of industrial structure in the western region. The interaction of driving factors had far more influence on URI level in China than individual factors, and the interaction between traffic accessibility and other socioeconomic factors had been significantly enhanced. Research on the spatio-temporal evolution and mechanism of URI in China can provide theoretical basis for rural revitalization and high-quality urban and rural development. © 2023, Editorial office of PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. All rights reserved.     

Lake Area Changes and the main causes in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert during 1973–2010,China

Lake area information in the Badain Jaran Desert in 1973, 1990, 2000, and 2010 was obtained by visual interpretation and water index analysis of remote sensing images, based on the spatial and temporal characteristics of lake area changes during 37 years. Results indicated that the nttmber of lakes declined from 94 to 82 and the total surface area was reduced by 3.69 km2 during 1973-2010. The desert lake area reduced by different degrees in different periods, but this occurred most rapidly during 1973-1990. According to the statistics of lake area changes, lake area decreases mainly occurred in the lakes with areas less than 0.2 km2, while the areas of lakes greater than 0.9 km2 only fluctuated. The changes of lake areas were probably due to changes in the quantity of underground water supplies rather than the effects of local climate change or human factors.     

Distribution and trend on consecutive days of severe weathers in China during 1959–2014

Based on daily surface climate data and weather phenomenon data, the spatial and temporal distribution and trend on the number of consecutive days of severe weathers were analyzed in China during 1959–2014. The results indicate that the number of consecutive days for hot weathers increased at a rate of 0.1 day per decade in China as a whole, while that for cold weathers, snowfall weathers, thunderstorm weathers and foggy weathers showed significant decreasing trends at rates of 1.4, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.4 day per decade, respectively. Spatially, there were more consecutive hot days and rainstorm days in southeastern China, and more consecutive cold days and snowfall days in northeastern China and western China. Consecutive thunderstorm days were more in southern China and southwestern China, and consecutive foggy days were more in some mountain stations. Over the past 56 years, annual number of consecutive cold days decreased mainly in most parts of western China and eastern China. Consecutive thunderstorm days decreased in most parts of China. The trend of consecutive hot days, snowfall days and foggy days was not significant in most parts of China, and that of consecutive rainstorm days was not significant in almost the entire China.     

Temporal change and suitability assessment of cropland in the Yellow River Basin during 1990–2005

Rapid landscape pattern change has taken place in many arid and semi-arid regions of China such as Yellow River Basin over the past decade. In this article, the physical suitability of cropland and its change were evaluated and analyzed by the combined use of satellite remote sensing, geographical information system, and landscape modeling technologies. The aim was to improve our understanding of cropland change so that sustainable cropland utilization could be established. First, the spatial pattern change of cropland was analyzed using the 1-km² area percentage model; second, the numerical model for cropland suitability assessment was explored and developed using analytical hierarchy process analysis method. Using this model, cropland suitability index was computed for the whole of the basin from 1990 to 2005. The cropland suitability index was classified into five levels: better, good, middle, bad, and worse, following the natural breaks classification. The spatial distribution of cropland suitability level and its changes over the 15 years from 1990 to 2005 were analyzed and the driving factors of cropland change were investigated. The results showed that the cropland suitability in the study area was at good level, and the cropland quality had been gradually improved on the whole. However, the cropland quality had become worse over the 15 years in some regions. In the study area, governmental policies for eco-environmental protection and population growth were found to be the major factors that caused the cropland change over the past 15 years.     

Lake Area Changes and the main causes in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert during 1973–2010, China

Lake area information in the Badain Jaran Desert in 1973, 1990, 2000, and 2010 was obtained by visual interpretation and water index analysis of remote sensing images, based on the spatial and temporal characteristics of lake area changes during 37 years. Results indicated that the number of lakes declined from 94 to 82 and the total surface area was reduced by 3.69 km² during 1973–2010. The desert lake area reduced by different degrees in different periods, but this occurred most rapidly during 1973–1990. According to the statistics of lake area changes, lake area decreases mainly occurred in the lakes with areas less than 0.2 km², while the areas of lakes greater than 0.9 km² only fluctuated. The changes of lake areas were probably due to changes in the quantity of underground water supplies rather than the effects of local climate change or human factors.