Spatiotemporal Variation in Precipitation Across Anhui Province

Abstract

【Objective】 Global warming is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts; understanding their statistical characteristics is important for developing mitigation strategies. Taking Anhui province as an example, this paper analyzes the change in its precipitation over the past six decades. 【Method】 Daily precipitation measured from 1960 to 2019 from 24 meteorological stations across the province was used to analyze its spatiotemporal variation using trend analysis and mutation testing. 【Result】 ①Temporally, precipitation in summer in the province accounts for about 40% of the annual precipitation; spatially, precipitation increases from the north to the south, and there are more precipitation and rainy days in the mountainous areas than in the flatted plains. The highest precipitation and rainy days are in Dabie Mountains in the south, and the lowest precipitation is in the Huaibei plain. ②The annual precipitation in 22 stations has been increasing largely due to the increase in heavy rains over the past six decades. ③Among the 24 stations, 12 have seen abrupt changes in precipitation pattern, but all these occurred in Jianghuai plain (1969 and 2012) and the mountainous areas (2008). 【Conclusion】 The precipitation in Anhui province varies spatially, and the probability of extreme precipitations that lead to flooding has tended to increase. These results provide guidance for improving water resource management and developing mitigation strategies to ameliorate flooding and drought in the province.

Keywords

• precipitation amounts
• extreme precipitation
• rainy day
• precipitation trend
• anhui