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Spatiotemporal variability of rain-on-snow events in the arid region of Northwest China

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Abstract

Rain-on-snow (ROS) events involve rainfall on snow surfaces, and the occurrence of ROS events can exacerbate water scarcity and ecosystem vulnerability in the arid region of Northwest China (ARNC). In this study, using daily snow depth data and daily meteorological data from 68 meteorological stations provided by the China Meteorological Administration National Meteorological Information Centre, we investigated the spatiotemporal variability of ROS events in the ARNC from 1978 to 2015 and examined the factors affecting these events and possible changes of future ROS events in the ARNC. The results showed that ROS events in the ARNC mainly occurred from October to May of the following year and were largely distributed in the Qilian Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, Ili River Valley, Tacheng Prefecture, and Altay Prefecture, with the Ili River Valley, Tacheng City, and Altay Mountains exhibiting the most occurrences. Based on the intensity of ROS events, the areas with the highest risk of flooding resulting from ROS events in the ARNC were the Tianshan Mountains, Ili River Valley, Tacheng City, and Altay Mountains. The number and intensity of ROS events in the ARNC largely increased from 1978 to 2015, mainly influenced by air temperature and the number of rainfall days. However, due to the snowpack abundance in areas experiencing frequent ROS events in the ARNC, snowpack changes exerted slight impact on ROS events, which is a temporary phenomenon. Furthermore, elevation imposed lesser impact on ROS events in the ARNC than other factors. In the ARNC, the start time of rainfall and the end time of snowpack gradually advanced from the spring of the current year to the winter of the previous year, while the end time of rainfall and the start time of snowpack gradually delayed from autumn to winter. This may lead to more ROS events in winter in the future. These results could provide a sound basis for managing water resources and mitigating related disasters caused by ROS events in the ARNC.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42171145, 42171147), the Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Program (22ZD6FA005), and the Key Talent Program of Gansu Province. The authors are very thankful to the anonymous reviewers for improving the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qilian Alpine Ecology and Hydrology Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Zhiwei Yang, Rensheng Chen, Zhangwen Liu, Yanni Zhao, Yiwen Liu & Wentong Wu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhiwei Yang, Yanni Zhao, Yiwen Liu & Wentong Wu

Authors
  1. Zhiwei Yang
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  2. Rensheng Chen
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  3. Zhangwen Liu
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  4. Yanni Zhao
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  5. Yiwen Liu
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  6. Wentong Wu
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Contributions

Methodology: CHEN Rensheng; Formal analysis: YANG Zhiwei, ZHAO Yanni, WU Wentong; Writing - original draft preparation: YANG Zhiwei; Writing - review and editing: CHEN Rensheng, LIU Zhangwen, LIU Yiwen; Funding acquisition: CHEN Rensheng, LIU Zhangwen. All authors approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rensheng Chen.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Yang, Z., Chen, R., Liu, Z. et al. Spatiotemporal variability of rain-on-snow events in the arid region of Northwest China. J. Arid Land 16, 483–499 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-024-0074-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-024-0074-3

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