Abstract
Evapotranspiration is a critical hydrological and meteorological variable impacted by climate change. In this study, the annual potential evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated using the Penman-Montieth method at 104 meteorological stations in Inner Mongolia, China, from 1971 to 2016. The characteristics of seasonal and annual ETo were analyzed using the least squares method and trends of ETo, and its driving meteorological factors were investigated using the Mann-Kendall test. The most influential meteorological factors driving ETo were identified using stepwise regression and partial correlation analysis. Results showed that the annual average (range) ETo was approximately 1050 mm (996–1165 mm), and air temperature was approximately 4 °C (3.25–6.01 °C). ETo decreased over time, suggesting that the evaporation paradox exists. The ETo in summer was the largest followed by that in spring, autumn, and winter. Relative humidity, precipitation, sunshine duration, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and mean temperature were the main factors influencing the distribution of ETo. Trends of ETo showed a high degree of spatial variability; however, stations showing significant negative trends were generally concentrated in central Inner Mongolia. At an annual time scale, decreased wind speed and sunshine duration were the most important drivers of reduced ETo.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation: Effective water lower limit in the application of regional drought assessment and evaluation-for example of Hetao tumichuan plain (2016MS0376); National Key Research and Development Program (2017YFC0504003); Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation: The impact of climate change on five kinds of woody plant phenology in Inner Mongolia (2017MS0377); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC): The study of grassland fire disaster risk assessment based on 3S: a case study in the Ujimqin grassland (41461102).
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Bian, Y., Dai, H., Zhang, Q. et al. Spatial distribution of potential evapotranspiration trends in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (1971–2016). Theor Appl Climatol 140, 1161–1169 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03154-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03154-y