Opposite Trends in Light Rain Days over Western and Eastern China from 1960 to 2014

Abstract

Abstract:In this work, we examined spatial and temporal trends for light rain days based on daily precipitation measurements, obtained from 1960 to 2014, from 590 meteorological stations in China. For the analyzed time interval, light rain days over eastern China were determined to decrease by 0.23 days·year −1 . In western China, they increased by 0.3 days·year −1 . To detect underlying causes for changes in light rain days, lower-tropospheric relative humidity was set as a proxy for light rain days. We then calculated the respective impacts of lower-tropospheric temperature and specific humidity on changes in light rain days. A comparison of the contributions of temperature and specific humidity resulted in the identification of the main cause of changes. Our results indicated that increases in lower-tropospheric temperatures reduced light rain days over the entire country, while variations in specific humidity dominated regional differences for light rain day trends.

Pulse Effect of Precipitation: Spatial Patterns and Mechanisms of Soil Carbon Emissions

“…Water is a stress factor in the Inner Mongolia Plateau (Bai et al, 2008). The frequency and intensity of precipitation over the grasslands of Inner Mongolia have shown an increasing trend over the last 60 years, indicating that more precipitation pulse events are likely to occur (Song et al, 2017). These arid and semiarid regions commonly show different levels of pulse responses owing to changes in rainfall frequency and rainfall intensity (Nielsen and Ball, 2015).…”