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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (1): 57-65.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.057

• Climate Change • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Diurnal variation of summer precipitation and its relationship with altitude in Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang

GUO Yulin1,2(),ZHAO Yong2(),ZHOU Yaman2,3,HUANG Qiuxia4,YU Zhenyi2,5,GU Zhangjie1   

  1. 1. Altay Prefecture Meteorological Bureau, Altay 836500, Xinjiang, China
    2. School of Atmospheric Sciences, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, Sichuan, China
    3. Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
    4. Changji Meteorological Bureau, Changji 831100, Xinjiang, China
    5. Lushan Meteorological Bureau, Jiujiang 332900, Jiangxi, China
  • Received:2021-02-01 Revised:2021-09-15 Online:2022-01-25 Published:2022-01-21
  • Contact: Yong ZHAO E-mail:562939249@qq.com;zhaoy608@cuit.edu.cn

Abstract:

The Tianshan Mountains receive more precipitation than the rest of the Xinjiang arid zone. Previous studies investigated the precipitation variation in Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China, by using daily and monthly precipitation data, but they did not focus on the diurnal variation of summer precipitation. Summer (June to August) hourly precipitation data covering 11 meteorological stations in Tianshan Mountains during 2012—2018 revealed the characteristics of diurnal variation, including the amount, occurrence, and intensity of precipitation. The relationship between terrain height and precipitation is investigated. The main conclusions are as follows: The peak values of total precipitation and total precipitation frequency occur from 20:00 to 22:00 Beijing time, and the valley values occur from 12:00 to 13:00. Precipitation mainly occurs at night (21:00—08:00), and the total precipitation is mainly contributed by long-term precipitation. The intensity of total precipitation shows an increasing trend during the day (09:00—20:00) and an opposite variation at night. The precipitation is related to terrain height and light rain frequently occurs at high altitudes. The maximum rainy belt is found at an altitude of about 2000 m.

Key words: precipitation, precipitation frequency, precipitation intensity, diurnal variation, altitude