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Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Ronny Berndtsson

Professor, Dep Director, MECW Dep Scientific Coordinator

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Regional sea-surface temperatures explain spatial and temporal variation of summer precipitation in the source region of the Yellow River

Author

  • Feifei Yuan
  • Hiroshi Yasuda
  • Ronny Berndtsson
  • Cintia Bertacchi Uvo
  • Linus Zhang
  • Zhenchun Hao
  • Xinping Wang

Summary, in English

The summer precipitation (June–September) in the source region of the Yellow River accounts for about 70% of the annual total, playing an important role in water availability. This study divided the source region of the Yellow River into homogeneous zones based on precipitation variability using cluster analysis. Summer precipitation trends and teleconnections with global sea-surface temperatures (SST) and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) from 1961 to 2010 were investigated by Mann-Kendall test and Pearson product-moment correlation analysis. The results show that the northwest part (Zone 1) had a non-significantly increasing trend, and the middle and southeast parts (zones 2 and 3) that receive the most precipitation displayed a statistically significant decreasing trend for summer precipitation. The summer precipitation in the whole region showed statistically significant negative correlations with the central Pacific SST for 0–4 month lag and with the Southern Indian and Atlantic oceans SST for 5–8 month lag. Analyses of sub-regions reveal intricate and complex correlations with different SST areas that further explain the summer precipitation variability. The SOI had significant positive correlations, mainly for 0–2 months lag, with summer precipitation in the source region of the Yellow River. It is seen that El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have an influence on summer precipitation, and the predominant negative correlations indicate that higher SST in equatorial Pacific areas corresponding to El Niño coincides with less summer precipitation in the source region of the Yellow River. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Gerten

Department/s

  • Division of Water Resources Engineering
  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World

Publishing year

2016-06-10

Language

English

Pages

1383-1394

Publication/Series

Hydrological Sciences Journal

Volume

61

Issue

8

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

Keywords

  • ENSO
  • Sea-surface temperature
  • Source region of the Yellow River
  • Summer precipitation

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0262-6667