Spatial-Temporal Variations of Extreme Precipitation Characteristics and Its Correlation with El Niño-Southern Oscillation during 1960–2019 in Hubei Province, China

Abstract

Extreme precipitation could result in many disasters, such as floods, drought, and soil erosion, further bringing severe economic loss. Based on the daily precipitation records during 1960–2019 of 26 stations obtained from the National Meteorological Science Data Center of China, 10 extreme precipitation indices (EPIs: annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT), max-1-day precipitation amount (RX1day), max-5-day precipitation amount (RX5day), number of heavy rain days (R10), number of very heavy rain days (R10), simple daily intensity index (SDII), consecutive dry days (CDD), continued wet days (CWD), very wet days (R95p) and extremely wet days (R99p)) were chosen and used to analyze the spatial-temporal variation of extreme precipitation within Hubei province, China, which is an important industrial and agricultural base in China. Finally, the correlation between El Niño-Southern Oscillation and EPIs was analyzed by cross-wavelet analysis. Results showed that the annual EPIs varied obviously during 1960–2019, and CWD decreased significantly (p p p < 0.05). The extreme precipitation events within Hubei were affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The results could provide a possible driving factor for precipitation prediction and natural hazard prevention within Hubei province, China.

Keywords

• extreme rainfall index
• trend analysis
• hurst index
• spatial-temporal variation
• El Niño-Southern Oscillation
• middle China