Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An analysis of yearly trends in growing degree days and the relationship between growing degree day values and reference evapotranspiration in Turpan area, China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The growth and development of crops is commonly regarded as a function of time alone. However, this approach can be inadequate due to temperatures which vary from year to year caused by global climate change. This prompted the development of the growing degree day concept, which incorporates information on both the passage of time and the temperature experienced by the crop plant during that time. Crop water requirements, which are estimated by multiplying reference evapotranspiration values by a crop-specific coefficient, play a crucial role in the management of hydrologic cycles on arable land. Consequently, it would be useful to identify the relationships between cumulative growing degree days and reference evapotranspiration, in order to develop new methods for predicting crop growth and development periods and calculating reference evapotranspiration. This paper describes annual trends in cumulative growing degree days values and their impact on grape growth. Three different methods for calculating cumulative growing degree days values were evaluated as well. Several key findings were achieved. First, for the period between 1952 and 1995, the cumulative growing degree days values for specific days of the year were normally distributed. Second, the relationship between the relative cumulative growing degree days value and the passage of time can be accurately described by using a cubic polynomial function. Third, the day-to-day change in the average relative cumulative reference evapotranspiration can be described using an exponential function of time, which can be used to calculate the relative cumulative reference evapotranspiration value for any given day of the year. Fourth, there was a significant correlation between the relative cumulative growing degree days and cumulative reference evapotranspiration values during the period between grape budding and maturity, which can be described using a cubic polynomial function. Finally, a new method for determining the ET0 value for any given day of the year was developed; this method requires only a knowledge of the CGDD-at-year-end and no sophisticated meteorological data.

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
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahuja LR, Naney JW, Green RE, Nielsen DR, (1984) Macroporosity to characterize spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity and effects of land management. Soil Sci Soc Amer J 48:699–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen RG (1996) Assessing integrity of weather data for reference evapotranspiration estimation. J Irrig Drain E-ASCE 122:97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen RG (1997) Self-calibrating method for estimating solar radiation from air temperature. J Hydrol Eng 2:56–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen RG, Pereira LS, Raes D, Smith M (1998) Crop evapotranpiration: guildlines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 56. Food and Agriculture Organisation, Land and Water. Rome, Italy

  • Aufammer W (1998) Getreide- und andere Körnerfruchtarten: Bedeutung, Nutzung und Anbau. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 560 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Bois B, Pieri P, Van Leeuwen C, Wald L, Huard F, Gaudillere JP, Saur E (2008) Using remotely sensed solar radiation data for reference evapotranspiration estimation at a daily time step. Agric For Meteorol 148:619–630

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai JB, Liu Y, Lei TW, Pereira LS (2007) Estimating reference evapotranspiration with the FAO Penman–Monteith equation using daily weather forecast messages. Agric For Meteorol 145:22–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeGaetano AT, Knapp WW (1993) Standardization of weekly growing degree day accumulations based on differences in temperature observation time and method. Agric Forest Meteorol 66:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding ZE, Wei CL (2001) Relationship between atmospheric temperature and growth characteristics of main edible grapes in South China. Chin J Appl Ecol 12:199–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Droogers P, Allen RG (2002) Estimating reference evapotranspiration under inaccurate data conditions. Irrig Drain Syst 16:33–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan BT et al (2009) Quantifying height growth and monthly growing degree days relationship of plantation Taiwan spruce. For Ecol Manag 257:2270–2276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves GH (1994) Defining and using reference evapotranspiration. J Irrig Drain E-ASCE 120:1132–1139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves GL, Hargreaves GH, Riley JP (1985) Agricultural benefits for Senegal River basin. J Irrig Drain E-ASCE 111:113–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller ER, Hanus H, Heyland KU (1997) Grundlagen der landwirtschaftlichen Pflanzenproduktion. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 860

    Google Scholar 

  • Li LK et al (2010) Simulation model of muskmelon fruit development in early spring protected cultivation based on effect accumulated temperature. North Hortic 6:97–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang LQ, Li LJ, Liu Q (2010) Temporal variation of reference evapotranspiration during 1961–2005 in the Taoer River basin of Northeast China. Agric For Meteorol 150:298–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMaster GS, Wilhelm WW (1997) Growing degree-days: one equation, two interpretations. Agric For Meteorol 87:291–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirjana R et al (2010) Evaluation of different methods for determining growing degree-day thresholds in apricot cultivars. Int J Biometeorol 54:411–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter JR, Gawith M (1999) Temperatures and the growth and development of wheat: a review. Eur J Agron 10:23–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sitte P, Ziegler H, Ehrendorfer F, Bresinsky A (1999) Lehrbuch der Botanik, 34. Aufl. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, 1007

  • Smith M (2000) The application of climatic data for planning and management of sustainable rainfed and irrigated crop production. Agric For Meteorol 103:99–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumnera DM, Jacobs JM (2005) Utility of Penman–Monteith, Priestley–Taylor, reference evapotranspiration, and pan evaporation methods to estimate pasture evapotranspiration. J Hydrol 308:81–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temesgen B, Allen RG, Jensen DT (1999) Adjusting temperature parameters to reflect well-water conditions. J Irrig Drain E-ASCE 125:26–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Undersander DJ, Christiansen S (1986) Interactions of water variables and growing degree days on heading phase of winter wheat. Agric For Meteorol 38:169–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Delden A, Kropff MJ, Haverkort AJ (2001) Modeling temperature-and radiation-driven leaf area expansion in the contrasting crops potato and wheat. Field Crops Res 72:119–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang SF, Duan AW, Xu JX (2010) Dynamic changes and simulation model of plant height and leaf area index of winter wheat. J Irrig Drain 29:97–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Warrick AW, Nielsen DR (1980) Spatial variability of soil physical properties in the field. In: Hillel D (ed) Applications of Soil Physics. Academic Press, New York, p 319–344

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by National Key Technology R&D Program (2011BAD29B05) and the National Natural Science Foundation (51179150). We thank the National Meteorological Information Center (NMIC) of China Meteorological Administrative (CMA) for providing the data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Water Resources and Hydro-electric Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710054, People’s Republic of China

    Lijun Su & Quanjiu Wang

  2. Xinjiang Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Urumqi Xinjiang, 830049, People’s Republic of China

    Yungang Bai

  3. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi Xianyang, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Quanjiu Wang

Authors
  1. Lijun Su
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Quanjiu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yungang Bai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Quanjiu Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Su, L., Wang, Q. & Bai, Y. An analysis of yearly trends in growing degree days and the relationship between growing degree day values and reference evapotranspiration in Turpan area, China. Theor Appl Climatol 113, 711–724 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0814-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0814-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation