Investigation of Arctic air temperature extremes at north of 60°N in winter

Air temperature is a key index reflecting climate change. Air temperature extremes are very important because they strongly influence the natural environment and societal activities. The Arctic air temperature extremes north of 60°N are investigated in the winter. Daily data from 238 stations at north of 60°N from the global summary of the day for the period 1979–2015 are used to study the trends of cold days, cold nights, warm days and warm nights during the wintertime. The results show a decreasing trend of cold days and nights（rate of –0.2 to –0.3 d/a） and an increasing trend of warm days and nights（rate of ＋0.2 to ＋0.3 d/a） in the Arctic. The mean temperature increases,which contributes to the increasing（decreasing） occurrence of warm（cold） days and nights. On the other hand,the variance at most stations decreased, leading to a reduced number of cold events. A positive AO（Arctic Oscillation） index leads to an increased（decreased） number of warm（cold） days and nights over northern Europe and western Russia and an increased（decreased） number of cold（warm） days and nights over the Bering Strait and Greenland. The lower extent of Arctic autumn sea ice leads to a decreased number of cold days and nights.The occurrences of abrupt changes are detected using the Mann-Kendall method for cold nights occurring in Canada in 1998 and for warm nights occurring in northwestern Eurasia in 1988. This abrupt change mainly resulted from the mean warming induced by south winds and an increased North Atlantic sea surface temperature.

Trends of summertime extreme temperatures in the Arctic

Extreme temperature events can influence the natural environment and societal activities more so than mean temperature events. This study used daily data from 238 stations north of 60°N, obtained from the Global Summary of the Day dataset for the period 1979~015, to investigate the trends of summertime extreme temperature. The results revealed most stations north of 60°N with trends of decrease in the number of cold days （nights） and increase in the number of warm clays （nights）. The regional average results showed trends of consistent decline （rise） of cold days and nights （warm days and nights） in Eurasia and Greenland. Similarly, the trends of the seasonal maximum and minimum values were most significant in these regions. In summer, of three indices considered （i.e., Arctic Oscillation, Arctic dipole, and E1 Nifi^Southem Oscillation）, the largest contributor to the trends of extreme temperature events was the Arctic dipole. Prevailing southerly winds in summer brought warm moist air across northern Eurasia and Greenland, conducive to increased numbers of warm days （nights） and decreased numbers of cold day （nights）. Moreover, we defined extreme events using different thresholds and found the spatial distributions of the trends were similar.

Spatio-temporal variation of precipitation in the Three-River Headwater Region from 1961 to 2010

Based on a monthly dataset of precipitation time series （1961-2010） from 12 me- teorological stations across the Three-River Headwater Region （THRHR） of Qinghai Province China, the spatio-temporal variation and abrupt change analysis of precipitation were exam- ined by using moving average, linear regression, spline interpolation, the Mann-Kendall test and so on. Major conclusions were as follows. （1） The long-term annual and seasonal pre- cipitation in the study area indicated an increasing trend with some oscillations during 1961-2010; however, the summer precipitation in the Lantsang （Lancang） River Headwater Region （LARHR）, and the autumn precipitation in the Yangtze River Headwater Region （YERHR） of the THRHR decreased in the same period. （2） The amount of annual precipita- tion in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions was greater in the 1980s and 2000s. The springs were fairly wet after the 1970s, while the summers were relatively wet in the 1960s, 1980s and 2000s. In addition, the amount of precipitation in the autumn was greater in the 1970s and 1980s, but it was relatively less for the winter precipitation, except in the 1990s （3） The normal values of spring, summer, winter and annual precipitation in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions all increased, but the normal value of summer precipitation in the LARHR had a negative trend and the normal value of winter precipitation declined in general. （4） The spring and winter precipitation increased in most of the THRHR. The summer autumn and annual precipitation increased mainly in the marginal area of the west and north and decreased in the regions of Yushu, Zaduo, Jiuzhi and Banma. （5） The spring and winter precipitation in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions showed an abrupt change, except for the spring precipitation in the YARHR. The abrupt changes of spring precipitation were mainly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, while the abrupt changes of winter precipita- tion were primary in the mid- to late 1970s. This research would be helpful for further under- standing the trends and periodicity of precipitation and for watershed-based water resource management in the THRHR.

Temporal and spatial changes of temperature and precipitation in Hexi Corridor during 1955-2011

This study is focused on the northwestern part of Gansu Province, namely the Hexi Corridor. The aim is to address the question of whether any trend in the annual and monthly series of temperature and precipitation during the period 1955-2011 appears at the scale of this region. The temperature and precipitation variation and abrupt change were examined by means of linear regression, five-year moving average, non-parameter Mann-Kendall test, accumulated variance analysis and Pettitt test method. Conclusions provide evidence of warming and wetting across the Hexi Corridor. The mean annual temperature in Hexi Corridor increased significantly in recent 57 years, and the increasing rate was 0.27℃/10a. The abrupt change phenomenon of the annual temperature was detected mainly in 1986. The seasonal average temperature in this region exhibited an evident upward trend and the uptrend rate for the standard value of winter temperature indicated the largerst of four seasons. The annual precipitation in the Hexi Corridor area displayed an obviously increasing trend and the uptrend rate was 3.95 mm/10a. However, the annual precipitation in each basin of the Hexi Corridor area did not passed the significance test. The rainy season precipitation fluctuating as same as the annual one presented insignificant uptrend. No consistent abrupt change was detected in precipitation in this study area, but the rainy season precipitation abrupt change was mainly observed in 1968.