Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Hourly Precipitation over Eastern China in the Warm Season

Based on hourly precipitation data in eastern China in the warm season during 1961-2000,spatial distributions of frequency for 20 mm h 1 and 50 mm h 1 precipitation were analyzed,and the criteria of short-duration rainfall events and severe rainfall events are discussed.Furthermore,the percentile method was used to define local hourly extreme precipitation;based on this,diurnal variations and trends in extreme precipitation were further studied.The results of this study show that,over Yunnan,South China,North China,and Northeast China,the most frequent extreme precipitation events occur most frequently in late afternoon and/or early evening.In the Guizhou Plateau and the Sichuan Basin,the maximum frequency of extreme precipitation events occurs in the late night and/or early morning.And in the western Sichuan Plateau,the maximum frequency occurs in the middle of the night.The frequency of extreme precipitation （based on hourly rainfall measurements） has increased in most parts of eastern China,especially in Northeast China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,but precipitation has decreased significantly in North China in the past 50 years.In addition,stations in the Guizhou Plateau and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River exhibit significant increasing trends in hourly precipitation extremes during the nighttime more than during the daytime.

Sensitivity of runoff to climatic variability in the northern and southern slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains,China

Temperature and precipitation play an important role in the distribution of intra-annual runoff by influencing the timing and contribution of different water sources.In the northern and southern slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains in China,the water sources of rivers are similar;however,the proportion and dominance of water sources contributing to runoff are different.Using the Manas River watershed in the northern slope and the Kaidu River watershed in the southern slope of the Middle Tianshan Mountains as case studies,we investigated the changes in annual runoff under climate change.A modified hydrological model was used to simulate runoff in the Kaidu River and Manas River watersheds.The results indicated that runoff was sensitive to precipitation variation in the southern slope and to temperature variation in the northern slope of the Middle Tianshan Mountains.Variations in temperature and precipitation substantially influence annual and seasonal runoff.An increase in temperature did not influence the volume of spring runoff;but it resulted in earlier spring peaks with higher levels of peak flow.Damages caused by spring peak flow from both slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains should be given more attention in future studies.

SIMULATION OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CLIMATIC ELEMENTS IN MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS

In this paper,an effective method of simulating the spatial distribution of climatic elements in mountainous areas by using the semi-empirical theory is presented.As an example,the spatial distributions of temperature, vapor pressure,relative humidity,wind speed and precipitation in the Jianyang region and the Shaxi basin of Fujian Province are computed with this method,and the simulated results are in good agreement with the observations.