Abstract
Impacts of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in China on the regional pattern and annual amount of precipitation around the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) are examined by comparing observations before and after the operation of TGD (1984–2003 and 2004–13). Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the annual precipitation anomalies clearly indicates that the land-use change associated with the construction of TGD has not significantly changed the precipitation pattern. To investigate the impacts of TGD on the rainfall amount, we compare the relative variations of atmospheric variables related to precipitation formation in three spatial bands: over TGR, near TGR, and far from TGR. It is found that the differences in annual rainfall over TGD between the two periods before and after the operation of TGD are small, suggesting a weak impact of TGD on the rainfall amount. The TGD water level increased from 66 m before June 2003 to 175 m after 2010, and this may have slightly reduced precipitation on the local scale.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chen, X. Y., Q. Zhang, D. X. Ye, et al., 2009: Regional climate change over Three Gorges reservoir area. Resour. Environ. Yangtze Basin, 18, 47–51. (in Chinese)
Chen, X. Y., L. C. Song, Z. F. Guo, et al., 2013: Climate change over the Three Gorge reservoir and upper Yangtze with its possible effect. Resour. Environ. Yangtze Basi,n 22, 1466–1471. (in Chinese)
Degu, A. M., F. Hossain, D. Niyogi, et al., 2011: The influence of large dams on surrounding climate and precipitation patterns. Geophys. Res. Lett,. 38, L04405, doi: 10.1029/2010GL 046482.
Li, B., and S. H. Tang, 2014: Local precipitation changes induced by the Three Gorges reservoir based on TRMM observations. Resour. Environ. Yangtze Basin, 23, 617–625. (in Chinese)
Li, J., Z. W. Zhu, and W. J. Dong, 2017: A new mean-extreme vector for the trends of temperature and precipitation over China during 1960–2013. Meteor. Atmos. Phys,. 129, 273–282, doi: 10.1007/s00703-016-0464-y.
Li, Y., Y. H. Gao, X. Y. Chen, et al., 2011: The impact of the land use change associated with the Three Gorges Dam on regional climate change. J. Nanjing Univ. (Nat. Sci.), 47, 330–338. (in Chinese)
Miller, N. L., J. M. Jin, and C. F. Tsang, 2005: Local climate sensitivity of the Three Gorges Dam. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L16704, doi: 10.1029/2005GL022821.
Ren, Q., Z. W. Zhu, L. P. Hao, et al., 2017: The enhanced relationship between southern China winter rainfall and warm pool ocean heat content. Int. J. Climatol,. 37, 409–419, doi: 10.1002/joc.4714.
Wu, L. G., Q. Zhang, and Z. H. Jiang, 2006: Three Gorges Dam affects regional precipitation. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L6704, doi: 10.1029/2006GL026780.
Xiao, C., R. C. Yu, and Y. F. Fu, 2010: Precipitation characteristics in the Three Gorges Dam vicinity. Int. J. Climatol., 30, 2021–2024, doi: 10.1002/joc.1963.
Zhang, H. T., C. H. Zhu, and Q. Zhang, 2004: Numerical modeling of microclimate effects produced by the formation of the Three Gorges reservoir. Resour. Environ. Yangtze Basin, 13, 133–137. (in Chinese)
Zhu, Z. W., T. Li, and J. H. He, 2014: Out-of-phase relationship between boreal spring and summer decadal rainfall changes in southern China. J. Climate, 27, 1083–1099, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00180.1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40805039), Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education Program Fund of Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology (KLME1303), and China Meteorological Administration Special Public Welfare Research Fund (GHYH201306023 and GYHY201206013).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Y., Zhou, W., Chen, X. et al. Influences of the Three Gorges Dam in China on precipitation over surrounding regions. J Meteorol Res 31, 767–773 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-017-6177-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-017-6177-4