Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial Variations of Climate-Driven Trends of Water Vapor Pressure and Relative Humidity in Northwest China

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The interaction between climate change trends and water cycle variables is complex. The spatial distributions and trends of hydroclimatic variables (precipitation, temperature, water vapor pressure, and relative humidity) at 65 stations in Xinjiang in 1961–2011 were analyzed. Five meteorological stations were selected for a detailed analysis of the changes in climatic factors. We explored the relationship between water vapor pressure, relative humidity, temperature, and precipitation using nonparametric methods [the block bootstrap (B-B) method, Mann-Kendall (MK) test, and a generalized additive model (GAM)] for data from 1940 to 2011. The results showed that temperature, precipitation, and water vapor pressure at most stations increased over the period studied, while relative humidity decreased in the north of Xinjiang, and increased in the south. The results indicated that the temperature and water vapor pressure were elevated. At the same time, there was a large spatiotemporal heterogeneity of precipitation and relative humidity among the five stations. The water vapor pressure had a significant positive relationship with temperature and relative humidity, but the temperature trend with relative humidity displayed a negative relationship. The relationship of the precipitation and temperature trends with water vapor and relative humidity was either positive or negative. The most significant controlling factor for the climate variables was relative humidity, which was governed by water vapor pressure in the study area. Further investigations are needed to better understand the climatic influences in other complex physiographic landscapes, and to determine reliable mechanisms to more effectively integrate water cycle variables, high resolution data, and climatic modeling.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Camberlin, P.: Temperature trends and variability in the greater horn of Africa: interactions with precipitation. Clim. Dyn. 48(1), 477–498 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., Li, Z., Fan, Y., Wang, H., Deng, H.: Progress and prospects of climate change impacts on hydrology in the arid region of Northwest China. Environ. Res. 138, 11 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui, Y.-Q.: The transport of vapour and its sources in Northwest China. J. Hydraul. Eng. 9(1), 79–87 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai, A.-G.: Recent climatology, variability, and trends in global surface humidity. J.clim. 19(15), 3589–3601 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng, H., Chen, Y., Shi, X., Li, W., Wang, H.: Dynamics of temperature and precipitation extremes and their spatial variation in the arid region of Northwest China. Atmos. Res. 138(3), 346–355 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, Y.H., Ren, G.Y., Zhao, Z.C., Xu, Y., Luo, Y., Li, Q.P., Zhang, J.: Detection, causes and projection of climate change over China: an overview of recent progress. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 24(6), 954–971 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, D., Huang, G., Qu, X., Tao, W., Fan, G.: Temperature trend–altitude relationship in China during 1963–2012. Theor. Appl. Climatol. 122(1), 285–294 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Du, J., Fang, J., Xu, W., Shi, P.: Analysis of dry/wet conditions using the standardized precipitation index and its potential usefulness for drought/flood monitoring in Hunan Province, China. Stoch. Env. Res. Risk A. 27, 377–387 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durre, I., Williams, C.N., Yin, X., Vose, R.S.: Radioson-debased trends in precipitable water over the northern hemisphere: an update. J. Geophys. Res. 114(114), 1007–1012 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastie T. J., R. J. Tibshirani, 1990: Generalized Additive Models. Chapman &Hall/CRC, Boca Raton

  • Held, I.M., Soden, B.J.: Water vapor feedback and global warming. Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 25, 441–475 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J., et al.: Dryland climate change recent progress and challenges. Rev. Geophys. 55, 719–778 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016RG000550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J., Guan, X., Ji, F.: Enhanced cold-season warming in semi-arid regions. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 12, 5391–5398 (2012). https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-5391-2012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J., Yu, H., Guan, X., Wang, G., Guo, R.: Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nat. Clim. Chang. 6(2), 166–172 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, J., Wang, Q., Li, L.H.: Long-term oscillation of drought conditions in the western China: an analysis of PDSI on a decadal scale. J. Arid Land. 8(6), 819–831 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall M. G. 1975: Rank correlation methods London: Charles Griffin, pp 202

  • Lahiri, S.N.: Theoretical comparisons of block bootstrap methods. Ann. Stat. 27(1), 386–404 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., Meshgi, A., Babovic, V.: Spatio-temporal variation of wet and dry spell characteristics of tropical precipitation in Singapore and its association with ENSO. Int. J. Climatol. 36, 4831–4846 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, E., Takle, E.S.: Spatial variabilities and their relationships of the trends of temperature, water vapor, and precipitation in the north American regional reanalysis. J. Geophys. Res. 115(D6), 1–11 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayor, J.R., Sanders, N.J., Classen, A.T., Bardgett, R.D., Clément, J.C., Fajardo, A., Lavorel, S., Sundqvist, M.K., Bahn,M., Chisholm, C., et al.: Elevation alters ecosystem properties across temperate treelines globally. Nature. 542, 91–95 (2017)

  • Peng, D., Zhou, T.J.: Why was the arid and semiarid Northwest China getting wetter in the recent decades? J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 122, (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026424

  • Philipona, R., Dürr, B., Ohmura, A., Ruckstuhl, C.: Anthropogenic greenhouse forcing and strong water vapor feedback increase temperature in Europe. Geophys. Res. Lett. 321(19), 312–321 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, W., Hu, Q., Zhu, Y., Lee, D.-K.: Centennial-scale dry-wet variations in East Asia. Clim. Dyn. 21(1), 77–89 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, R.A., Stasinopoulos, D.M.: Generalized additive models for location, scale and shape. J. Appl. Stat. 54(3), 507–554 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rind, D., W, E., Whu, W., Larsen, J., Oltmans, S.: Positive water vapor feedback in climate models confirmed by satellite data. Nature. 349, 500–503 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, R.J., Elliott, W.P.: Tropospheric water vapor climatology and trends over North America: 1973-1993. J. Clim. 9, 3561–3574 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, S., Rosenlof, K.H., Portmann, R.W., Daniel, J.S., Davis, S.M.: Contributions of stratospheric water vapor to decadal changes in the rate of global warming. Science. 327(5970), 1219–1223 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, Q., Miao, C., AghaKouchak, A., Duan, Q.: Century-scale causal relationships between global dry/wet conditions and the state of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Geophys. Res. Lett. 43, 6528–6537 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth, K.E., Dai, A., Rasmussen, R.M., Parsons, D.B.: The changing character of precipitation. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 84(9), 1205–1217 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Gaffen, D.J.: Trends in extremes of surface humidity, temperatures and summertime heat stress in China. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 18, 742–751 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X.R., Xu, X.D., Wang, W.G.: Characteristics of spatial transportation of water vapor for Northwest China’s rainfall in spring and summer. Plat. Meteor. 26(4), 749–758 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S.S., Huang, J.P., He, Y.L., Guan, Y.P.: Combined effects of the Pacific decadal oscillation and El Nin˜o-southern oscillation on global land dry–wet changes. Sci. Rep. 4(6651), 1–8 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood S. N. 2006:Generalized Additive Models: an Introduction with R. Chapman& Hall/CRC, Boca Raton

  • Wu, Y.J., Shi, Q.D., Chang, S.L..: Characteristics of temporal and spatial distribution of the drought and flood in Xinjiang region from 1961 to 2008. Plat. Meteor. 30(2), 391–396 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, J., Yang, Q., Mao, W., Zhao, Y., Xu, X.: Precipitation trend- elevation relationship in arid regions of the China. Glob. Planet. Chang. 143, 1–9 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhai, P., Eskridge, R.E.: Atmospheric water vapor over China. J. Clim. 10, 2643–2652 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q., Li, J.F., Singh, V.P., Xu, C.Y., Bai, Y.: Changing structure of the precipitation process during 1960–2005 in Xinjiang, China. Theor. Appl. Clim. 110, 229–244 (2012a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Wei, W., Jiang, F., Wang, W.: Brief communication assessment of change in temperature and precipitation over Xinjiang. China. Nat. Hazard. Earth Sys. 12, 1327–1331 (2012b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Western Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (XBBS-2014-15), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1403281, 41371011, and 41671030). The authors are grateful to Prof. Wang Ling and Prof. Xie Xianqun of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, for their strong support and guidance with the data acquisition and processing. We thank International Science Editing (http://www.internationalscienceediting.com) for editing this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China

    Fengzhi Shi, Xu Zhou & Xinhu Li

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters( CIC-FEMD) / School of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, No.219, Ningliu Road, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu, China

    Chengyi Zhao

Authors
  1. Fengzhi Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chengyi Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xu Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xinhu Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chengyi Zhao.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Tianjun Zhou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shi, F., Zhao, C., Zhou, X. et al. Spatial Variations of Climate-Driven Trends of Water Vapor Pressure and Relative Humidity in Northwest China. Asia-Pacific J Atmos Sci 55, 221–231 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-018-0062-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-018-0062-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation