Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Inconsistent urbanization effects on summer precipitation over the typical climate regions in central and eastern China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using a 30-year data (1983–2012) from 428 stations, we study summer precipitation differences between urban and rural areas in 5 Chinese climate regions: the Pearl River Delta (PRD), the Middle and Upper reaches of the Yangtze River (MUYR), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the North China Plain (NCP), and Northeast China (NEC). By analyzing heavy rain (HR) (24-h precipitation ≥ 100 mm) and light rain (LR) (0.1 mm ≤ 24 h precipitation ≤ 25 mm), we find that urbanization has had inconsistent effects on precipitation. Higher HR occurs over urban areas of the PRD and YRD than rural areas, and lower HR occurs over urban areas of the MUYR, NCP and NEC than rural areas. The urban LR is less than the rural LR in all climate regions. The correlation between precipitation and the convective available potential energy (CAPE) or humidity explains the regional differences in urbanization effects on HR. HR is greatly affected by the CAPE in the PRD and YRD, where the CAPE is high (> 600 J/kg at 14:00 LT), water vapor is abundant (> 45 kg/m2 at 14:00 LT), and the urban heat island increases the urban HR. However, HR is greatly affected by humidity in the MUYR, NCP, and NEC, where the CAPE and water vapor are less (≤ 500 J/kg and ≤ 40 kg/m2 at 14:00 LT) and the urban HR is mainly suppressed by the urban dry island. Our results indicate that urbanization promotes HR in wet climates but suppresses HR in dry climates during summer in central and eastern China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baik JJ (1992) Response of a stably stratified atmosphere to low-level heating an application to the heat island problem. J Appl Meteorol 31:291–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Baik JJ, Kim YH, Chun HY (2001) Dry and moist convection forced by an urban heat island. J Appl Meteorol 40:1462–1475

    Google Scholar 

  • Baik JJ, Kim YH, Kim JJ et al (2007) Effects of boundary-layer stability on urban heat island-induced circulation. Theor Appl Climatol 89:73–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein R, Lin Q (2000) Urban heat islands and summertime convective thunderstorms in Atlanta: three case studies. Atmos Environ 34:507–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (1979) Rainfall changes in summer caused by St. Louis. Science 205:402–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi YS, Ho CH, Kim J, Gong DY, Park RJ (2008) The impacts of aerosols on the summer rainfall frequency in China. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 47:1802–1813

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong WH, Lin YL, Wright JS, Xie Y, Yin X, Guo J (2019) Precipitable water and CAPE dependence of rainfall intensities in China. Clim Dyn 52:3357–3368

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo JX (2014) Research on environmental standards for surface meteorological elements observation (in Chinese). China Sci Technol Achiev 15:30–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo X, Fu D et al (2014) A case study of aerosol impacts on summer convective clouds and precipitation over northern China. Atmos Res 142:142–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo J, Li GP (2009) Climatic characteristics of precipitable water vapor and relations to surface water vapor column in Sichuan and Chongqing Region (in Chinese). J Nat Resour 24:344–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo T, Zhu B, Kang Z, Gui H, Kang H (2016) Spatial and temporal distribution characteristic of fog days and haze days from 1960–2012 and impact factors over the Yangtze River Delta Region (in Chinese). China Environ Sci 36:961–969

    Google Scholar 

  • Han JY, Baik JJ (2008) A theoretical and numerical study of urban heat island-induced circulation and convection. J Atmos Sci 65:1859–1877

    Google Scholar 

  • Han JY, Baik JJ, Lee H (2014) Urban impacts on precipitation. Asia-Pac J Atmos Sci 50:17–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao Z, Aghakouchak A, Phillips TJ (2013) Changes in concurrent monthly precipitation and temperature extremes. Environ Res Lett 8:1402–1416

    Google Scholar 

  • He LQ, Yang P, Jing X et al (2017) Analysis of temporal-spatial variation of heat island effect in Pearl River Delta using MODIS images and impermeable surface area. Remote Sens Land Resour 29:140–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Houze RA (1993) Cloud Dynamics. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hua L, Ma Z, Guo W (2008) The impact of urbanization on air temperature across China. Theor Appl Climatol 93:179–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang JX, Fan MZ (2002) Convective clouds and mesoscale convective systems over the Tibetan Plateau in summer (in Chinese). Chin J Atmos Sci 26:263–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang ZH, Li Y, Huang DL (2016) Impact of urbanization in different regions of eastern china on precipitation and its uncertainty. J Trop Meteorol 461:382–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiao MY, Li C, Li YX (2005) Mesoscale analyses of a Sichuan heavy rainfall (in Chinese). J Appl Meteor Sci 16:699–704

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann RK, Seto KC, Schneider A, Liu Z, Zhou L, Wang W (2007) Climate response to rapid urban growth: evidence of a human-induced precipitation deficit. J Clim 20:2299–2306

    Google Scholar 

  • Kishtawal CM, Niyogi D, Tewari M et al (2010) Urbanization signature in the observed heavy rainfall climatology over India. Int J Climatol 30:1908–1916

    Google Scholar 

  • Lepore C, Veneziano D, Molini A (2015) Temperature and CAPE dependence of rainfall extremes in the eastern United States. Geophys Res Lett 42:74–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Li WB, Chen S, Chen GX, Sha W, Luo C, Feng Y, Wen Z, Wang B (2011a) Urbanization signatures in strong versus weak precipitation over the Pearl River Delta metropolitan regions of China. Environ Res Lett 6:034020

    Google Scholar 

  • Li XX, Koh TY, Panda J et al (2016) Impact of urbanization patterns on the local climate of a tropical city, Singapore: an ensemble study. J Geophys Res Atmos 121:4386–4403

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZQ, Niu F, Fan JW et al (2011b) Long-term impacts of aerosols on the vertical development of clouds and precipitation. Nat Geosci 4:888–894

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZQ, Wang Y, Guo JP, Zhao CF, Cribb MC, Dong XQ et al (2019) East Asian study of tropospheric aerosols and their impact on regional clouds, precipitation, and climate (EAST-AIRCPC). J Geophys Res Atmos 124:13026–13054

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang P, Ding YH (2017) The long-term variation of extreme heavy precipitation and its link to urbanization effects in Shanghai during 1916–2014. Adv Atmos Sci 34:321–334

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang L, Li YQ, Hu HR et al (2013) Numerical simulation of the relationship between summer susceptibility anomalies on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and precipitation in Sichuan and Chongqing areas (in Chinese). Plateau Meteorol 32:1538–1545

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin CY, Chen WC, Chang PL, Sheng YF (2011) Impact of the urban heat island effect on precipitation over a complex geographic environment in Northern Taiwan. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 50:339–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Miao S, Chen F, Li Q, Fan S (2011) Impacts of urban processes and urbanization on summer precipitation: a case study of heavy rainfall in Beijing on 1 August 2006. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 50:806–825

    Google Scholar 

  • Mote TL, Lacke MC, Shepherd JM (2007) Radar signatures of the urban effect on precipitation distribution: a case study for Atlanta, Georgia. Geophys Res Lett 34:20710

    Google Scholar 

  • Ntelekos AA, Donner L, Fast JD, Gustafson WI, Chapman EG, Krajewski WF (2009) The effects of aerosols on intense convective precipitation in the northeastern United States. Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 135:1367–1391

    Google Scholar 

  • Oke TR (1973) City size and the urban heat island. Atmos Environ 7:769–779

    Google Scholar 

  • Olfe DB, Lee RL (1971) Linearized calculations of urban heat island convection effects. J Atmos Sci 28:1374–1388

    Google Scholar 

  • Pruppacher HR, Klett JD (1997) Microphysics of clouds and precipitation. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld D (1999) TRMM observed first direct evidence of smoke from forest fires inhibiting rainfall. Geophys Res Lett 26:3105–3108

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld D (2000) Suppression of rain and snow by urban and industrial air pollution. Science 287:1793–1796

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld D, Lohmann U, Raga GB, O'Dowd CD, Kulmala M, Fuzzi S, Reissell A, Andreae MO (2008) Flood or drought: how do aerosols affect precipitation? Science 321:1309–1313

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozoff CM, Cotton WR, Adegoke JO (2003) Simulation of St. Louis, Missouri, land use impact on thunderstorms. J Appl Meteorol 42:716–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Shastri H, Paul S, Ghosh S, Karmakar S (2015) Impacts of urbanization on Indian summer monsoon rainfall extremes. J Geophys Res Atmos 120:495–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Shem W, Shepherd M (2009) On the impact of urbanization on summertime thunderstorms in Atlanta: two numerical model case studies. Atmos Res 92:172–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Song X, Zhang J, Aghakouchak A et al (2014) Rapid urbanization and changes in spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation in Beijing metropolitan area. J Geophys Res Atmos 119:11250–11271

    Google Scholar 

  • Souma K, Tanaka K, Suetsugi T, Sunada K, Tsuboki K, Shinoda T, Wang Y, Sakakibara A, Hasegawa K, Moteki Q, Nakakita E (2013) A comparison between the effects of artificial land cover and anthropogenic heat on a localized heavy rain event in 2008 in Zoshigaya, Tokyo, Japan. J Geophys Res Atmos 118:11600–11610

    Google Scholar 

  • Tayan M, Toros H (1997) Urbanization effects on regional climate change in the case of four large cities of Turkey. Clim Chang 35:501–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Feng J, Yan Z (2015) Potential sensitivity of warm season precipitation to urbanization extents: modeling study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China. J Geophys Res Atmos 120:9408–9425

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu FB, Tang JP (2015) Impact of urbanization on summer precipitation and temperature in the Yangtze River Delta (in Chinese). J Trop Meteorol 31:255–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan SQ, Zhu B, Kang HQ (2019) Long-term fog variation and its impact factors over polluted regions of East China. J Geophys Res Atmos 124:1741–1754

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang G, Bowling LC, Cherkauer KA, Pijanowski BC (2011) The impact of urban development on hydrologic regime from catchment to basin scales. Landsc Urban Plan 103:237–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, Wu B, Shi C, Zhang J, Li Y, Tang W, Shi T (2013) Impacts of urbanization and station-relocation on surface air temperature series in Anhui Province, China. Pure Appl Geophys 170:1969–1983

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang CL, Chen F, Miao SG et al (2009) Impacts of urban expansion and future green planting on summer precipitation in the Beijing metropolitan area. J Geophys Res Atmos 114:356–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang N, Gao Z, Wang X et al (2010) Modeling the impact of urbanization on the local and regional climate in Yangtze River Delta, China. Theor Appl Climatol 102:331–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao XT, Zhu B, Pan C (2019) Research on temperature difference of urban-rural areas in different climate in central-eastern China (in Chinese). J Meteorol Sci 39:569–577

  • Zhou L, Jiang ZH, Li ZX et al (2015) Simulation of climate effects of underlying surface changes in different urban agglomerations in eastern China (in Chinese). Chin J Atmos Sci 39:596–610

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFA0602003) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41575148).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collaborative Innovation Centre on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China

    Fan Xiao & Bin Zhu

  2. Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China

    Fan Xiao & Bin Zhu

  3. Special Test Field of National Integrated Meteorological Observation, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China

    Fan Xiao & Bin Zhu

  4. IM System Group, Inc. @NOAA/NESDIS/STAR, College Park, MD, USA

    Tong Zhu

Authors
  1. Fan Xiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bin Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tong Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bin Zhu.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xiao, F., Zhu, B. & Zhu, T. Inconsistent urbanization effects on summer precipitation over the typical climate regions in central and eastern China. Theor Appl Climatol 143, 73–85 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03404-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03404-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation