Observed decrease in light precipitation in part due to urbanization

Abstract

Abstract Decrease in light precipitation (LP) frequency has been reported in many regions. However, reason for the decrease remains poorly understood. Here, we quantify urbanization effect on LP (< 3.0 mm day−1) trend in China over the period 1960–2018. We show that urbanization has significantly affected the decreasing LP trend. The urbanization effect becomes more significant as the definition of LP becomes stricter, with the largest effect appearing in trace precipitation change (< 0.3 mm day−1) (LP0.3) during summer and autumn. We estimate that at least 25% of the decreases in LP0.3 days and amount are due to urbanization near the observational stations. Our analysis thus confirms that urbanization has largely contributed to the observed downward trend in LP, and the large-scale change in LP is less than previously believed.