Multiple time scale analysis of river runoff using wavelet transform for Dagujia River Basin, Yantai, China

Based on monOdy river runoff and meteorological data, a method of Morlet wavelet transform was used to analyze the multiple time scale characteristics of river runoffin the Dagnjia River Basin, Yantai City, Shandong Province. The results showed that the total annual river runoff in the Dagujia River Basin decreased significantly from 1966 to 2004, and the rate of decrease was 48×106m3/10yr, which was higher than the mean value of most rivers in China. Multiple time scale characteristics existed, which accounted for different aspects of the changes in annual river runoff, and the major periods of the runoff time series were identified as about 28 years, 14 years and 4 years with decreasing levels of fluctuation. The river runoff evolution process was controlled by changes in precipitation to a certain extent, but it was also greatly influenced by human activities. Also, for different time periods and scales, the impacts of climate changes and human activities on annual river runoff evolution occurred at the same time. Changes in the annual river runoffwere mainly associated with climate change before the 1980s and with human activities after 1981.