Dataset Information

Cyclic precipitation variation on the western Loess Plateau of China during the past four centuries.

ABSTRACT: Precipitation variation on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China is not only important for rain-fed agriculture in this environmentally sensitive region, but also critical for the water and life securities over the whole Yellow River basin. Here we reconstruct high resolution precipitation variation on the western LP during the past 370 years by using two replicated, annually-laminated stalagmites. Spatial analysis suggests that the reconstruction can be also representative for the whole LP region. The precipitation variations show a significant quasi-50 year periodicity during the last 370 years, and have an important role in determining the runoff of the middle Yellow River. The main factor controlling the decadal scale variations and long-term trend in precipitation over this region is southerly water vapour transport associated with the Asian summer monsoon. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is also an important influence on precipitation variation in this region, as it can affect the East Asian summer monsoon and the West Pacific Subtropical High.

SUBMITTER: Tan L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4165273 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cyclic precipitation variation on the western Loess Plateau of China during the past four centuries.

Tan Liangcheng L An Zhisheng Z Huh Chih-An CA Cai Yanjun Y Shen Chuan-Chou CC Shiau Liang-Jian LJ Yan Libin L Cheng Hai H Edwards R Lawrence RL

Scientific reports 20140916

Precipitation variation on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China is not only important for rain-fed agriculture in this environmentally sensitive region, but also critical for the water and life securities over the whole Yellow River basin. Here we reconstruct high resolution precipitation variation on the western LP during the past 370 years by using two replicated, annually-laminated stalagmites. Spatial analysis suggests that the reconstruction can be also representative for the whole LP region. Th ...[more]

PMID: 25223372

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Project description:Changes in precipitation patterns greatly impact regional drought/flood risk management and utilization of water resources. The main purpose of this paper was to investigate spatio-temporal variability of precipitation concentration in the transitional zone between Qinling Mountains (QDM), Guanzhong Plain (GZP) and the Loess Plateau (LPNS) in China, using monthly-scale precipitation concentration index (PCI) and daily-scale concentration index (CI) from daily rainfall records. The Mann-Kendall method was employed to illustrate the change in trend of PCI and CI, the Kriging interpolation method was adopted to measure spatial distribution, and the Wavelet transforms were used to explore their spatio-temporal correlation with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) & Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) for revealing the potential attribution of precipitation concentration variation. Also, the regional implication of CI was investigated in the zone to provide local knowledge of the index application. Results showed that annual precipitation demonstrated a north-south increasing layered spatial distribution in the zone, representing a generally decreasing trend. The CI change generally exhibited a more significant decreasing trend than did PCI in LPNS and GZP due to AO slowly increasing over time, with a spatially weak layered or radial north-south decay, and an insignificant increasing trend in QDM impacted by the enhancing WPSH, with an obvious layered or radial spatial distribution. The spatiotemporal pattern of PCI variation represented similar characteristics in attribution with CI, but an inverse spatial distribution due to the phase difference (positive and negative effects) of AO and WPSH influencing seasonal precipitation. Regional analysis of CI showed that the CI value with over 0.62 indicated that approximately 80% of precipitation was contributed by 25% of the rainiest days in this zone. Fortunately, the area with this high CI has been getting smaller, implying a positive trend toward regional flash flood and debris flow control.

Dataset Information

Cyclic precipitation variation on the western Loess Plateau of China during the past four centuries.

Publications

Cyclic precipitation variation on the western Loess Plateau of China during the past four centuries.

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