Temperature and precipitation trends in Canada during the 20th century

Abstract

Trends in Canadian temperature and precipitation during the 20th century are analyzed using recently updated and adjusted station data. Six elements, maximum, minimum and mean temperatures along with diurnal temperature range (DTR), precipitation totals and ratio of snowfall to total precipitation are investigated. Anomalies from the 1961–1990 reference period were first obtained at individual stations, and were then used to generate gridded datasets for subsequent trend analyses. Trends were computed for 1900–1998 for southern Canada (south of 60°N), and separately for 1950–1998 for the entire country, due to insufficient data in the high arctic prior to the 1950s.

From 1900–1998, the annual mean temperature has increased between 0.5 and 1.5°C in the south. The warming is greater in minimum temperature than in maximum temperature in the first half of the century, resulting in a decrease of DTR. The greatest warming occurred in the west, with statistically significant increases mostly seen during spring and summer periods. Annual precipitation has also increased from 5% to 35% in southern Canada over the same period. In general, the ratio of snowfall to total precipitation has been increasing due mostly to the increase in winter precipitation which generally falls as snow and an increase of ratio in autumn. Negative trends were identified in some southern regions during spring. From 1950–1998, the pattern of temperature change is distinct: warming in the south and west and cooling in the northeast, with similar magnitudes in both maximum and minimum temperatures. This pattern is mostly evident in winter and spring. Across Canada, precipitation has increased by 5% to 35%, with significant negative trends found in southern regions during winter. Overall, the ratio of snowfall to total precipitation has increased, with significant negative trends occurring mostly in southern Canada during spring.

Indices of abnormal climate conditions are also examined. These indices were defined as areas of Canada for 1950–1998, or southern Canada for 1900–1998, with temperature or precipitation anomalies above the 66th or below the 34th percentiles in their relevant time series. These confirmed the above findings and showed that climate has been becoming gradually wetter and warmer in southern Canada throughout the entire century, and in all of Canada during the latter half of the century.     

Adjusted Daily Rainfall and Snowfall Data for Canada

This article documents how Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Adjusted Daily Rainfall and Snowfall (AdjDlyRS) dataset was developed. The adjustments include (i) conversion of ruler measurements of snowfall to its water equivalent using a previously developed snow water equivalent (SWE) ratio map for Canada; (ii) corrections for gauge-related issues including undercatch and evaporation caused by wind effects and gauge-specific wetting loss, as well as for trace precipitation amounts, using previously developed procedures for Canada. Various data flags (e.g., accumulation flags) were also treated. This dataset contains all Canadian stations reporting daily rainfall and snowfall for which we have metadata to implement the adjustments. The length of the data record varies from one station to another, starting as early as 1840. The results show that the original unadjusted total precipitation data in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s digital archive underestimate the total precipitation in northeastern Canada by more than 25% and by about 10–15% in most of southern Canada. Such large underestimates make the original data unsuitable for water availability and/or balance studies or for numerical model validation, among many other applications. The use of the assumed 10:1 SWE ratio for the archived total precipitation data is the primary cause of the underestimate, which is most severe in northeastern Canada. The trace correction adds 5–20% to precipitation values in northern Canada but less than 5% in southern Canada. The gauge-related corrections do not show an organized spatial pattern but add 5–10% to the precipitation at 312 stations. Long runs (≥3 months) of miscoded missing values were also identified and corrected.

The latest version of the AdjDlyRS dataset is available from the Canadian Open Data Portal; currently it is version 2016, which contains 3346 stations and covers the period from station inception to February 2016. This dataset is suitable for producing gridded precipitation datasets, as well as other applications.     

Trend analysis of winter rainfall over southern Québec and new Brunswick (Canada)

Abstract

Winter rainfall is a non‐negligible issue for urban drainage in Canada as it can generate significant flooding, especially when it occurs at the same time as high air temperature and in the presence of an appreciable snow cover. According to climate change scenarios, it is expected that the occurrence of these events will increase in a future climate. The purpose of this paper is to perform a trend analysis on six indices related to winter rainfall (January–February) at 60 weather stations located in southern Québec and New Brunswick (Canada) in order to detect possible trends in the frequency or intensity of winter rainfall events during the twentieth century. Datasets were provided by Environment Canada and come from the Canadian Daily Rehabilitated Precipitation Database. The bootstrap‐based Mann‐Kendall test is used to detect possible non‐stationarities in the dataset, while Sen's slope estimator is used to quantify the magnitude of the slope. Results show that 19 stations out of 60 present a significant trend (18 of them being positive) at a 5% level for winter (January–February) total rainfall. In most cases where a trend was detected for winter rainfall there was also an increase in the number of days with rainfall (42% of the stations). These results suggest that globally, for the region under study, rainfall during January and February was more likely to occur, often resulting in a significant increase in the total rainfall during these months. Increasing trends in maximum daily rainfall during January and February were also observed for 9 stations (15% of the stations). The spatial distribution of stations where significant trends were detected is consistent with the hypothesis that trends in winter rainfall are more likely to be observed for stations located in the southern part of the region under study.     

Changes in Canada's Climate: Trends in Indices Based on Daily Temperature and Precipitation Data

ABSTRACT

Trends in indices based on daily temperature and precipitation are examined for two periods: 1948–2016 for all stations in Canada and 1900–2016 for stations in the south of Canada. These indices, a number of which reflect extreme events, are considered to be impact relevant. The results show changes consistent with warming, with larger trends associated with cold temperatures. The number of summer days (when daily maximum temperature >25°C) has increased at most locations south of 65°N, and the number of hot days (daily maximum temperature >30°C) and hot nights (daily minimum temperature >22°C) have increased at a few stations in the most southerly regions. Very warm temperatures in both summer and winter (represented by the 95th percentile of their daily maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively) have increased across the country, with stronger trends in winter. Warming is more pronounced for cold temperatures. The frost-free season has become longer with fewer frost days, consecutive frost days, and ice days. Very cold temperatures in both winter and summer (represented by the 5th percentile of their daily maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively) have increased substantially across the country, again with stronger trends in the winter. Changes in other temperature indices are consistent with warming. The growing season is now longer, and the number of growing degree-days has increased. The number of heating degree-days has decreased across the country, while the number of cooling degree-days has increased at many stations south of 55°N. The frequency of annual and spring freeze–thaw days shows an increase in the interior provinces and a decrease in the remainder of the country. Changes in precipitation indices are less spatially coherent. An increase in the number of days with rainfall and heavy rainfall is found at several locations in the south. A decrease in the number of days with snowfall and heavy snowfall is observed in the western provinces, while an increase is found in the north. There is no evidence of significant changes in the annual highest 1-day rainfall and 1-day snowfall. The maximum number of consecutive dry days has decreased, mainly in the south.     

Long-term changes in annual maximum snow depth and snowfall in Switzerland based on extreme value statistics

Mountain snow cover is an important source of water and essential for winter tourism in Alpine countries. However, large amounts of snow can lead to destructive avalanches, floods, traffic interruptions or even the collapse of buildings. We use annual maximum snow depth and snowfall data from 25 stations (between 200 and 2,500?m) collected during the last 80 winters (1930/31 to 2009/2010) to highlight temporal trends of annual maximum snow depth and 3-day snowfall sum. The generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution with time as a covariate is used to assess such trends. It allows us in particular to infer how return levels and return periods have been modified during the last 80?years. All the stations, even the highest one, show a decrease in extreme snow depth, which is mainly significant at low altitudes (below 800?m). A negative trend is also observed for extreme snowfalls at low and high altitudes but the pattern at mid-altitudes (between 800 and 1,500?m) is less clear. The decreasing trend of extreme snow depth and snowfall at low altitudes seems to be mainly caused by a reduction in the magnitude of the extremes rather than the scale (variability) of the extremes. This may be caused by the observed decrease in the snow/rain ratio due to increasing air temperatures. In contrast, the decreasing trend in extreme snow depth above 1,500?m is caused by a reduction in the scale (variability) of the extremes and not by a reduction in the magnitude of the extremes. However, the decreasing trends are significant for only about half of the stations and can only be seen as an indication that climate change may be already impacting extreme snow depth and extreme snowfall.     

1970—2019年内蒙古大兴安岭林区降雪特征分析

基于1970—2019年内蒙古大兴安岭林区11个气象站逐日降水量和温度资料, 提取降雪数据, 采用趋势分析法、距平法、M-K突变法、滑动t检验法等, 分析了大兴安岭林区降雪的时空变化特征。结果表明: 大兴安岭林区总降雪量和各等级降雪量均呈增加趋势, 其中小雪和暴雪的降雪量增加趋势较小; 小雪和中雪量在21世纪00年代达到最大值, 大雪和暴雪量在21世纪10年代达到最大值; 各等级降雪量对总降水量的贡献率为小雪>中雪>大雪>暴雪; 各等级降雪量年内月变化均呈M型分布, 总降雪量高峰出现在11月; 总降雪量在1995年有显著突变, 小雪、中雪、大雪、暴雪降雪量无显著突变年份。空间上总降雪量和各等级降雪量(除暴雪外)大体呈北多南少、西多东少的变化趋势。大兴安岭林区降雪初始日呈延后趋势, 终止日呈提前趋势, 雪季长度呈每10 a缩短2.3 d的趋势。     

Update of Canadian Historical Snow Survey Data and Analysis of Snow Water Equivalent Trends, 1967–2016

ABSTRACT

In situ observations of snow water equivalent (SWE) from manual snow surveys and automated sensors are made at approximately 1000 sites across Canada in support of water resource planning for flood control and hydroelectricity production. These data represent an important source of information for research (e.g., validation of hydrological and climate models), for applied studies (e.g., ground snow loads), and for climate monitoring. This note describes the process to update a Canadian historical snow survey dataset to 2016 and the production of a 0.1° gridded version for research applications. Analysis of trends in SWE, snow depth (SD), and density over the 50-year period from 1967 to 2016 revealed large spatial variability in trend sign and strength, with a relatively small percentage of points showing statistically significant trends. Where SWE and SD trends were significant, they tended to be negative, which is consistent with previous investigations of snow cover changes in Canada. The results show evidence of a latitudinal dependence in SWE trends, with the largest negative trends occurring over lower latitudes, and a tendency for mainly positive trends in Arctic SWE, which is consistent with observations from Russia and climate model projections of the response of Arctic snow cover to climate warming. Arctic sites also showed evidence of an increasing trend in 1 April snowpack density of 6.6?kg m^?3 per decade but little corresponding change in SD. This has potentially important consequences for the soil thermal regime because it provides a cooling influence from an increase in the snowpack effective thermal conductivity. The snow survey dataset is available from the Government of Canada Open Data portal.     

An Evaluation of Temperature and Precipitation Surface-Based and Reanalysis Datasets for the Canadian Arctic, 1950–2010

The spatial and temporal consistency of seasonal air temperature and precipitation in eight widely used gridded observation-based climate datasets (CANGRD, CRU-TS3.1, CRUTEM4.1, GISTEMP, GPCC, GPCP, HadCRUT3, and UDEL) and eight reanalyses (20CR, CFSR, ERA-40, ERA-Interim, JRA25, MERRA, NARR, and NCEP2) was evaluated over the Canadian Arctic for the 1950–2010 period. The evaluation used the CANGRD dataset, which is based on homogenized temperature and adjusted precipitation from climate stations, as a reference. Dataset agreement and bias were observed to exhibit important spatial, seasonal, and temporal variability over the Canadian Arctic with the largest spread occurring between datasets over mountain and coastal regions and over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Reanalysis datasets were typically warmer and wetter than surface observation-based datasets, with CFSR and 20CR exhibiting biases in total annual precipitation on the order of 300?mm. Warm bias in 20CR exceeded 12°C in winter over the western Arctic. Analysis of the temporal consistency of datasets over the 1950–2010 period showed evidence of discontinuities in several datasets as well as a noticeable increase in dataset spread in the period after approximately 2000. Declining station networks, increased automation, and the inclusion of new satellite data streams in reanalyses are potential contributing factors to this phenomenon. Evaluation of trends over the 1950–2010 period showed a relatively consistent picture of warming and increased precipitation over the Canadian Arctic from all datasets, with CANGRD giving moistening trends two times larger than the multi-dataset average related to the adjustment of the station precipitation data. The study results indicate that considerable care is needed when using gridded climate datasets in local or regional scale applications in the Canadian Arctic.     

近50年云南省降雪的气候变化特征

利用云南省1961-2008年120个测站逐日降雪资料,分析了云南省降雪频次和范围的时空特征和气候变化.结果表明:近50年云南省的年降雪频次和范围总体呈减少趋势,平均每年频次约减少4.5频次.各月的降雪频次和范围都呈负趋势.12月降雪频次减少趋势最显著,4月降雪范围减少趋势最显著.降雪频次长期趋势变化有明显的空间变化.对于年降雪频次西北部比东北部和东部减少得多,滇西北降雪频次每年约减少0.44频次.进一步对云南省年降雪量和积雪深度的长期趋势变化进行分析.云南省近50年,降雪范围逐步减少,年降雪量和平均最大积雪深度呈增加的趋势.说明近年来在云南气候趋于暖湿背景下,年降雪频次和范围呈逐渐减少趋势,但强降雪的频次却增加了.     

Trends in Canadian Short‐Duration Extreme Rainfall: Including an Intensity–Duration–Frequency Perspective

Short-duration (5 minutes to 24 hours) rainfall extremes are important for a number of purposes, including engineering infrastructure design, because they represent the different meteorological scales of extreme rainfall events. Both single location and regional analyses of the changes in short-duration extreme rainfall amounts across Canada, as observed by tipping bucket rain gauges from 1965 to 2005, are presented. The single station analysis shows a general lack of a detectable trend signal, at the 5% significance level, because of the large variability and the relatively short period of record of the extreme short-duration rainfall amounts. The single station 30-minute to 24-hour durations show that, on average, 4% of the total number of stations have statistically significant increasing amounts of rainfall, whereas 1.6% of the cases have significantly decreasing amounts. However, regional spatial patterns are apparent in the single station trend results. Thus, for the same durations regional trends are presented by grouping the single station trend statistics across Canada. This regional trend analysis shows that at least two-thirds of the regions across Canada have increasing trends in extreme rainfall amounts, with up to 33% being significant (depending on location and duration). Both the southwest and the east (Newfoundland) coastal regions generally show significant increasing regional trends for 1- and 2-hour extreme rainfall durations. For the shortest durations of 5–15 minutes, the general overall regional trends in the extreme amounts are more variable, with increasing and decreasing trends occurring with similar frequency; however, there is no evidence of statistically significant decreasing regional trends in extreme rainfall amounts. The decreasing regional trends for the 5- to 15-minute duration amounts tend to be located in the St. Lawrence region of southern Quebec and in the Atlantic provinces. Additional analysis using criteria specified for traditional water management practice (e.g., Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF)) shows that fewer than 5.6% and 3.4% of the stations have significant increasing and decreasing trends, respectively, in extreme annual maximum single location observation amounts. This indicates that at most locations across Canada the traditional single station IDF assumption that historical extreme rainfall observations are stationary (in terms of the mean) over the period of record for an individual station is not violated. However, the trend information is still useful complementary information that can be considered for water management purposes, especially in terms of regional analysis.     

Observed Trends in Severe Weather Conditions Based on Humidex,Wind Chill,and Heavy Rainfall Events in Canada for 1953–2012

Observed trends in severe weather conditions based on public alert statements issued by Environment Canada are examined for Canada. Changes in extreme heat and extreme cold events represented by various humidex and wind chill indices are analyzed for 1953–2012 at 126 climatological stations. Changes in heavy rainfall events based on rainfall amounts provided by tipping bucket rainfall gauges are analyzed for 1960–2012 at 285 stations. The results show that extreme heat events, defined as days with at least one hourly humidex value above 30, have increased significantly at more than 36% of the stations, most of which are located south of 55°N; days with nighttime hourly humidex values remaining above 20 have increased significantly at more than 52% of the stations, most of which are located south of 50°N. Extreme cold events represented by days with at least one hourly wind chill value below ?30 have decreased significantly at more than 76% of the stations across the country. No consistent changes were found in heavy rainfall events. Because city residents are very vulnerable to severe weather events, detailed results on changes in extreme heat, extreme cold, and heavy rainfall events are also provided for ten urban centres.     

Observed changes in daily temperature and precipitation indices for southern Québec, 1960–2005

Abstract

Trends and variations in daily temperature and precipitation indices in southern Québec are examined for the period 1960–2005. The indices are based on daily temperature and daily precipitation which have been recently adjusted at 53 climatological stations. The adjustments were made for site relocation, changes in observing programs, known instrument changes and measurement program deficiencies. The results show that the surface air temperature has increased in southern Québec over 1960–2005. Significant warming is evident in the western, southern and central parts of the province but the increasing trends become smaller toward the east. The warming is greater during the winter although many significant increasing trends are found in the summer. The analysis of the temperature extremes strongly indicates the occurrence of more nights with extreme high temperatures in all seasons. The temperature indices also suggest an increase in the number of thaw/frost days during the winter (days with maximum temperature above 0°C and minimum temperature below 0°C), a decrease in the length of the frost season, an increase in the length of the growing season, a decrease in heating degree days and an increase in cooling degree days. The precipitation indices show an increase in the annual total rainfall although many stations indicate decreasing trends during the summer. The number of days with rain has increased over the region whereas the number of days with snow and the total snow amounts have decreased over the past 46 years.     

我国强降雪气候特征及其变化

基于全国气象台站逐日地面降雪观测数据,对我国25°N以北不同气候区强降雪事件的地理分布和年内旬、月变化等气候特征进行分析,并探讨1961—2008年其时间序列演变特征,及1961—2008年和1981—2008年 (气候变暖后) 气候变化趋势。结果表明:强降雪量和强降雪日数在青藏高原东部、新疆和东北北部最多;强降雪强度高值中心出现在云南。东北北部、华北、西北、青藏高原东部强降雪事件多发生于初冬和初春,年内分布呈双峰型;新疆和黄淮地区年内分布呈单峰型,前者多发生在隆冬时节,后者多发生于晚冬;1961—2008年东北北部、新疆、青藏高原东部平均强降雪量和强降雪日数呈明显增加趋势;气候变暖后我国大部年强降雪量增多,强降雪日数增加,强降雪强度增强。     

A stochastic model for the analysis of maximum daily temperature

Accurately predicting precipitation trends is vital in the economic development of a country. Ground observed data from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) was analyzed to study the long-term spatio-temporal trends of rainfall on annual and seasonal scales for 23 stations in Nigeria during a 40-year period spanning from 1974 to 2013. After testing the presence of autocorrelation, Mann–Kendall (modified Mann–Kendall) test was applied to non-autocorrelated (autocorrelated) series to detect the trends in rainfall data. Theil and Sen’s slope estimator test was used to find the magnitude of change over a time period. Pettitt’s test, Standard Normal Homogeneity Test, and Buishand’s test were further used to test the homogeneity of the rainfall series. The results show an increasing trend in annual rainfall; however, only nine stations have a significant increase during the period of study. On the seasonal time scale, a significant increasing trend was observed in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, while only nine stations show a significant increasing trend in monsoon rainfall and a significant decreasing trend in the winter rainfall over the last 40 years. During the study period, 15.4 and 13.90 % increase were estimated for annual and monsoonal rainfall, respectively. Furthermore, seven stations exhibit changes in mean rainfall while majority of the stations considered (Eighteen stations) exhibit homogeneous trends in annual and seasonal rainfall over the country. The performance of the different tests used in this study was consistent at the verified significance level.     

Comparison of weather station snowfall with winter snow accumulation in high arctic basins

Abstract

Most water balance studies in the High Arctic indicate that the weather stations underestimate annual precipitation, but the magnitude of such error is unknown. Based on up to seven years of field measurements, this study provides a comparison of snowfall at weather stations with the winter snow accumulation in their nearby drainage basins.

Snowfall is the major form of precipitation in the polar region for nine months every year. Without vegetation, snowdrift is controlled by the local terrain. By establishing the snow characteristics for different terrain types, total basin snow storage can be obtained by areally weighting the snow cover for various terrain units in the basin. Such a method was successfully employed to compute total winter snowfall in the drainage basins near Resolute, Eureka and Mould Bay. Results show that the basins had 130 to 300per cent more snow than the weather stations recorded. Using revised snowfall values that are reinforced by Koerner's snow core measurements from ice‐caps, it is hoped that a more realistic precipitation map can be provided for the High Arctic.     

中国均一化日平均温、最高温和最低温序列1960-2008

Inhomogeneities in the daily mean/maximum/ minimum temperature （Tm/Tmax/Tmin） series from 1960- 2008 at 549 National Standard Stations （NSSs） in China were analyzed by using the Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization （MASH） software package. Typical biases in the dataset were illustrated via the cases of Beijing （B J）, Wutaishan （WT）, Urumqi （UR） and Henan （HN） stations. The homogenized dataset shows a mean warming trend of 0.261/0.193/0.344℃/decade for the annual series of Tm/Tmax/Tmin, slightly smaller than that of the original dataset by 0.006/0.009/0.007℃/decade. However, considerable differences between the adjusted and original datasets were found at the local scale. The adjusted Tmin series shows a significant warming trend almost everywhere for all seasons, while there are a number of stations with an insignificant trend in the original dataset. The adjusted Tm data exhibit significant warming trends annually as well as for the autumn and winter seasons in northern China, and cooling trends only for the summer in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and parts of central China and for the spring in southwestern China, while the original data show cooling trends at several stations for the annual and seasonal scales in the Qinghai, Shanxi, Hebei, and Xinjiang provinces. The adjusted Tmax data exhibit cooling trends for summers at a number of stations in the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers and for springs and winters at a few stations in southwestern China, while the original data show cooling trends at three/four stations for the annual/autumn periods in the Qinghai and Yunnan provinces. In general, the number of stations with a cooling trend was much smaller in the adjusted Tm and Tmax dataset than in the original dataset. The cooling trend for summers is mainly due to cooling in August. The results of homogenization using MASH appear to be robust; in particular, different groups of stations with consideration of elevation led to minor effects i     

融雪性降水量资料实时处理技术

介绍区域自动站冬季融雪产生的雨量记录的识别和自动处理的方法。将融雪性降水量的识别分为降雪和融雪两个过程。在满足降雪的前提条件下,测站有雨量记录,且当时符合融雪条件,则该雨量记录作为融雪产生的记录处理。据实际使用自动识别的准确率可达90%以上。降雪和融雪的条件以区域自动站的气温作为主要依据,结合临近的国家气象观测站资料进行综合判别。为提高对天气状况和降水性质的识别还加入了雷达估测降水和冬季降水相态判别等产品,弥补用单一参考站降水资料的缺陷,对融雪雨量记录识别效果有显著作用。     

Assessment of climate change impacts on climate variables using probabilistic ensemble modeling and trend analysis

Water resources in snow-dependent regions have undergone significant changes due to climate change. Snow measurements in these regions have revealed alarming declines in snowfall over the past few years. The Zayandeh-Rud River in central Iran chiefly depends on winter falls as snow for supplying water from wet regions in high Zagrous Mountains to the downstream, (semi-)arid, low-lying lands. In this study, the historical records (baseline: 1971–2000) of climate variables (temperature and precipitation) in the wet region were chosen to construct a probabilistic ensemble model using 15 GCMs in order to forecast future trends and changes while the Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG) was utilized to project climate variables under two A2 and B1 scenarios to a future period (2015–2044). Since future snow water equivalent (SWE) forecasts by GCMs were not available for the study area, an artificial neural network (ANN) was implemented to build a relationship between climate variables and snow water equivalent for the baseline period to estimate future snowfall amounts. As a last step, homogeneity and trend tests were performed to evaluate the robustness of the data series and changes were examined to detect past and future variations. Results indicate different characteristics of the climate variables at upstream stations. A shift is observed in the type of precipitation from snow to rain as well as in its quantities across the subregions. The key role in these shifts and the subsequent side effects such as water losses is played by temperature.

     

1961—2019年北疆冬季不同等级降雪变化特征

利用1961—2019年冬季北疆45个国家站逐日降水观测资料,采用统计分析方法,对不同等级降雪的气候变化特征进行了分析。结果表明:近59 a北疆降雪日数、降雪量、降雪强度分别以0.41 d/10 a、3.13 mm/10 a、0.15(mm·d~(-1))/10 a的速率增加,其中降雪量对全年降水量的贡献以1.3%/10 a的速率增长。降雪日数、降雪量主要表现为中雪和大雪的增加,降雪强度主要表现为暴雪强度的增加。小雪对降雪日数、降雪量的贡献呈减少趋势,其余等级为增加趋势,以中雪降雪日和大雪降雪量的贡献最为明显。北疆降雪日数仅在1月表现为减少趋势,主要是小雪日数显著减少;冬季各月降雪量均表现为增加趋势,主要是中雪和大雪降雪量显著增加。21世纪前10 a是降雪日数和降雪量最多的时期,20世纪60年代和21世纪10年代是降雪日数较少的时期。北疆降雪量在1985年发生突变,突变后年平均降雪量增加了12.4 mm。对比丰雪年和枯雪年,丰雪年降雪量偏多主要是小雪以上等级降雪日数的增多。     

Evidence of climate change within the Adamello Glacier of Italy

We analyze a daily series of rainfall, snowfall, air temperature, and snow water equivalent at fixed dates from 40 high-altitude stations on the Adamello Glacier area (Italian Alps), for the period 1965–2007. Purposes of the study are (1) to investigate significant variation in time, (2) to evaluate effect of temperature changes on cryospheric water cycle, and (3) to evaluate underlying climate patterns and the most significant variables for climate change studies. We detect the presence of a trend using linear regression, moving window average and Mann Kendall test. Linear dependence of water related variables on temperatures is assessed. We find substantially unchanged atmospheric water input along with increasing temperature and rainfall, decreasing snowfall and snow water equivalent at thaw, and shortening of snow cover extent and duration. We carry out a principal components analysis which highlights patterns of precipitation distribution resulting from local temperature and external forcing. A set of the most representative variables for climate and glacier studies is then assessed. A comparison with three nearby Southern Alpine glacierized areas in Italy and Switzerland shows substantial agreement. In spite of the relative shortness of the series, the results here are of interest and can be used as a benchmark for climate change impact assessment for the Adamello Glacier area and southern Alps.