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Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 889-898.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.04.04

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Diurnal variation characteristics and north-south differences of precipitation in warm season in Shaanxi Province

ZHANG Hong-fang1, LI Jian-ke1, PAN Liu-jie2, LU Shan1   

  1. 1 Shaanxi Meteorological Service Centre,Xi’an 710014,Shaanxi,China;
    2 Shaanxi Meteorological Observatory,Xi’an 710014,Shaanxi,China
  • Received:2018-11-09 Revised:2019-03-22 Online:2020-07-25 Published:2020-11-18

Abstract: Using the combination of data on hourly rainfall from automatic stations and Climate Prediction Center morphing method satellite data from 2008 to 2015,the diurnal variations and differences between the amount of precipitation as well as the frequency and intensity of precipitation in southern and northern Shaanxi Province,China from May to October were studied. Results show as follows:(1) From south to north,both rainfall frequency and amount decreased,with the zonal change under the topography being the most important feature. However,statistics show that precipitation intensity is higher in southwestern and northern Shaanxi and lower in central Shaanxi. The empirical orthogonal function analysis revealed that precipitation in southwestern Shaanxi showed clear night rain characteristics. (2) The diurnal variations of precipitation intensity and frequency were similar to the amount of precipitation amount southern Shaanxi. Both regions display high values from night to early morning and the lowest value around noon. The peak in precipitation amount and precipitation frequency in northern Shaanxi was primarily in the morning,while the peak in precipitation intensity appeared in the late afternoon. Diurnal variations in rainfall amount mainly came from precipitation intensity in southern Shaanxi,while diurnal variations in the north resulted from precipitation frequency. (3) Precipitation in Shaanxi varies greatly depending on what side of the north-south boundary line it falls. Precipitation south of 34°N displays obvious diurnal variation characteristics,and the precipitation is predominantly concentrated at night. There is little variation for precipitation in the central region between 34°N and 37°N,and the diurnal variation of precipitation north of the 37°N is opposite of that in southwestern Shaanxi. (4) Excluding Yulin,eastern Weinan,and Shangluo,the daytime precipitation is higher than nighttime precipitation. Precipitation in the rest of Shaanxi was significantly lower than that in the nighttime,especially in the Qinling-Daba mountainous area in southern Shaanxi,where nighttime precipitation was more than double daytime precipitation.

Key words: Shaanxi, warm season precipitation, diurnal variation, regional differences