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Analysis of surface air temperature variations and local urbanization effects on central Yunnan Plateau, SW China

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Abstract

With the surface air temperature (SAT) data at 37 stations on Central Yunnan Plateau (CYP) for 1961–2010 and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light data, the temporal-spatial patterns of the SAT trends are detected using Sen’s Nonparametric Estimator of Slope approach and MK test, and the impact of urbanization on surface warming is analyzed by comparing the differences between the air temperature change trends of urban stations and their corresponding rural stations. Results indicated that annual mean air temperature showed a significant warming trend, which is equivalent to a rate of 0.17 °C/decade during the past 50 years. Seasonal mean air temperature presents a rising trend, and the trend was more significant in winter (0.31 °C/decade) than in other seasons. Annual/seasonal mean air temperature tends to increase in most areas, and higher warming trend appeared in urban areas, notably in Kunming city. The regional mean air temperature series was significantly impacted by urban warming, and the urbanization-induced warming contributed to approximately 32.3–62.9 % of the total regional warming during the past 50 years. Meantime, the urbanization-induced warming trend in winter and spring was more significant than that in summer and autumn. Since 1985, the urban heat island (UHI) intensity has gradually increased. And the urban temperatures always rise faster than rural temperatures on the CYP.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the national Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0502105) and the Special Foundation of West Light Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors are grateful to the China National Meteorological Information Center for providing the climate data used in this study, and to Ms. Cai Ya for checking the grammatical and spelling mistakes. The authors would like thank three anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments on this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources Environment and Earth Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China

    Yunling He, Zhijie Wu, Xuelian Liu & Fuying Deng

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  1. Yunling He
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  2. Zhijie Wu
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  3. Xuelian Liu
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  4. Fuying Deng
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Correspondence to Yunling He.

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He, Y., Wu, Z., Liu, X. et al. Analysis of surface air temperature variations and local urbanization effects on central Yunnan Plateau, SW China. Theor Appl Climatol 131, 101–110 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-016-1958-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-016-1958-8

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