The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Ronny Berndtsson

Professor, Dep Director, MECW Dep Scientific Coordinator

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Changes in precipitation extremes over the source region of the Yellow River and its relationship with teleconnection patterns

Author

  • Feifei Yuan
  • Jiahong Liu
  • Ronny Berndtsson
  • Zhenchun Hao
  • Qing Cao
  • Huimin Wang
  • Yiheng Du
  • Dong An

Summary, in English

Precipitation extremes and their underlying causes are important processes to understand to plan appropriate adaptation measures. This paper presents an analysis of the spatiotemporal variability and trend of precipitation extremes in the important source region of the Yellow River and explores the connection to global teleconnection patterns and the 850-mb vector wind. Six indices for precipitation extremes were computed and analyzed for assessment of a changing regional climate. Results showed that these indices have a strong gradient from the northwest to the southeast part for the period 1961-2015, due to the great influence from the south-easterly summer monsoon flow. However, no statistically significant trends were found for the defined indices at the majority of stations, and their spatial distribution are noticed by irregularly mixed positive and negative changes except for the maximum number of consecutive wet days (CWD). Singular value decomposition analysis revealed that the precipitation extreme indices-including annual total precipitation when daily precipitation >95th percentile (R95p), annual count of days with daily precipitation ≥10 mm (R10mm), annual maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation (R5d), total precipitation divided by the number of wet days (SDII), and CWD-are negatively related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (NINO 3.4) in the first mode, and the maximum number of consecutive dry days (CDD) is positively related to the Scandinavian pattern in the second mode at 0.05 significance level. The 850-mb vector wind analysis showed that the southwestern monsoon originating from the Indian Ocean brings sufficient moisture to this region. Furthermore, the anti-cyclone in the western part of the North Pacific plays a significant role in the transport of moisture to the source region of the Yellow River. The links between precipitation extremes and teleconnection patterns explored in this study are important for better prediction and preparedness of climatic extremes.

Department/s

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

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Publication/Series

Water

Volume

12

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

MDPI AG

Topic

  • Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

Keywords

  • Precipitation extremes
  • Teleconnection patterns
  • The source region of the Yellow River
  • Wind vector

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2073-4441