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Precipitation extremes in a karst region: a case study in the Guizhou province, southwest China

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Abstract

We analyzed the changing properties of precipitation extremes in the Guizhou province, a region of typical karst geomorphology in China. Precipitation extremes were defined by the largest 1- and 5-day precipitation total. Trends of precipitation extremes were detected by using Mann–Kendall trend test technique. Besides, we also investigated moisture flux variations based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis dataset with the aim to further explore the possible causes behind the changes in precipitation extremes. The results of this study indicated that: (1) Although the changes in precipitation extremes at most of the stations were not significant, enhanced precipitation extremes were still detected after the early 1990s mainly in the middle and west parts of the Guizhou province; (2) In winter, east and south parts of the Guizhou province were characterized by increasing precipitation extremes; In summer, enhanced precipitation extremes were observed mainly in the middle and east parts of the Guizhou province; (3) A significant increase of moisture flux was observed after the 1990s when compared to that before the 1990s. Cumulative departure analysis results of moisture flux and precipitation extremes confirmed the influences of moisture flux on the variations of precipitation extremes in the study region. This study clarified the changes of weather extremes and their linkages with large-scale atmospheric circulation in the karst region of China, which will definitely enhance human mitigation to natural hazards in the fragile ecological environment under the influences of changing climate.

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Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program (“973 Program”, grant number 2006CB403200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 40701015; 40771199), and by the “985 Project” (Grant No.: 37000-3171315). Thanks should be extended to the National Climate Center and China Meteorological Administration, China for kindly providing the meteorological data. The last but not the least, we are also indebted to two anonymous reviewers and the managing editor, Dr. Hartmut Grassl, for their invaluable comments which greatly improved the quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Resources and Environment, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Qiang Zhang

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Sem Saelands vei 1, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Chong-Yu Xu

  3. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Forestry Ecological Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Zengxin Zhang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulics Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Xi Chen

  5. Center for Chinese Historical Geography Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Zhaoqing Han

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  1. Qiang Zhang
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  2. Chong-Yu Xu
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  3. Zengxin Zhang
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  4. Xi Chen
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Correspondence to Qiang Zhang.

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Zhang, Q., Xu, CY., Zhang, Z. et al. Precipitation extremes in a karst region: a case study in the Guizhou province, southwest China. Theor Appl Climatol 101, 53–65 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-009-0203-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-009-0203-0

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