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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 36-46.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.231

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal variation characteristics of sunshine hours in Qinghai Plateau from 1961 to 2020

ZHOU Dan1,2(),BAO Guangyu2(),SU Xianfeng2,WANG Li3,LI Baohua2   

  1. 1. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
    2. Qinghai Provincial Meteorological Service Center, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
    3. Qinghai Provincial Meteorological Cadre Training College, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
  • Received:2022-05-19 Revised:2022-07-18 Online:2023-01-25 Published:2023-02-21

Abstract:

Solar radiation is the primary energy source of the earth’s system and is closely related to human life. By selecting the monthly sunshine hour data of 50 meteorological observation stations in the Qinghai Plateau of China from 1961 to 2020, the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of sunshine hours in the Qinghai Plateau as a whole, different latitudes, and different altitudes were analyzed. The results are as follows: (1) The annual sunshine hours in the Qinghai Plateau exhibit a significant downward trend from 1961 to 2020, and a sudden decrease occurred in 2004. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the annual sunshine hours in other regions showed a significant decreasing trend except that the sunshine hours in some southern stations is flat or slightly increased. And the decreasing trend is most significant in Qaidam area and eastern agricultural area. (2) The decreasing trend of sunshine hours in high-latitude areas is significantly greater than that in low-latitude areas of the Qinghai Plateau. The variation trend of sunshine hours at different latitudes in spring is small. In summer and winter, the decreasing trend of sunshine hours at relatively high latitudes is significantly greater than that at low latitudes, and in autumn, the decreasing trend of sunshine hours at low and high latitudes is significantly greater than that at middle latitudes. (3) The decreasing trend of annual sunshine hours in relatively low-altitude areas of the Qinghai Plateau is significantly greater than that in relatively high-altitude areas. The change trend of sunshine hours at different altitudes in spring is small, flat, or slightly reduced. The decreasing trend of sunshine hours at relatively low altitudes is significantly greater than that at higher altitudes in summer and winter. The sunshine hours at different altitudes in autumn exhibit a decreasing trend, but there is a significant difference in the decreasing trend.

Key words: Qinghai Plateau, sunshine hours, spatiotemporal variation characteristics, Mann-Kendall mutation