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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Chinese National Basic Research Key Project (grant no. 2010cb951001), the National Scientific and Technological Support Program (grant no. 2007BAC03A0604), the Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology and Desert Environment, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, CAS (grant no. 05710401), and by Xinjiang Technology Innovative Program (grant no. 201001066 and 200931105). The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their invaluable suggestions.

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  1. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830011, China

    Feng-qing Jiang, Ru-Ji Hu, Shao-Ping Wang, Yan-Wei Zhang & Li Tong

  2. Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology and Desert Environment, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, CAS, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830011, China

    Feng-qing Jiang

  3. Cele National Field Science Observation and Research Station for Desert-Grassland Ecology, CAS, Cele, Xinjiang, 848300, China

    Feng-qing Jiang

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  1. Feng-qing Jiang
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Correspondence to Feng-qing Jiang.

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Jiang, Fq., Hu, RJ., Wang, SP. et al. Trends of precipitation extremes during 1960–2008 in Xinjiang, the Northwest China. Theor Appl Climatol 111, 133–148 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0657-3

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