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Spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation trends in the Yangtze River catchment

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Abstract

Precipitation trends in the Yangtze River catchment (PR China) have been analyzed for the past 50 years by applying the Mann-Kendall trend test and geospatial analyses. Monthly precipitation trends of 36 stations have been calculated. Significant positive trends at many stations can be observed for the summer months, which naturally show precipitation maxima. They were preceded and/or followed by negative trends. This observation points towards a concentration of summer precipitation within a shorter period of time. The analysis of a second data set on a gridded basis with 0.5° resolution reveals trends with distinct spatial patterns. The combination of classic trend tests and spatially interpolated precipitation data sets allows the spatiotemporal visualization of detected trends. Months with positive trends emphasize the aggravation of severe situation in a region, which is particularly prone to flood disasters during summer. Reasons for the observed trends were found in variations in the meridional wind pattern at the 850 hPa level, which account for an increased transport of warm moist air to the Yangtze River catchment during the summer months.

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Acknowledgement

This study was initiated for the preparation of a Sino-German project which is now funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG, Project Number BE 1962/6-1). The original work was funded by a key project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, Grant No. KZCX3-SW-331) and the Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA, Climate Change Project ccsf2005-2-qh4).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI, 54901, USA

    Stefan Becker

  2. European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, TP 723, 21020, Ispra, Italy

    Marco Gemmer

  3. Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Tong Jiang

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  1. Stefan Becker
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  2. Marco Gemmer
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  3. Tong Jiang
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Correspondence to Stefan Becker.

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Becker, S., Gemmer, M. & Jiang, T. Spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation trends in the Yangtze River catchment. Stoch Environ Res Ris Assess 20, 435–444 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-006-0036-7

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