Spatial and temporal variation of precipitation characteristics in the semiarid region of Xi'an, northwest China

Abstract

Precipitation variations mostly affect the water resource planning in semi-arid regions of northwest China. The objective of this study is to quantitatively explore the spatial and temporal variations of precipitation in different time scales in Xi'an city area. The Mann–Kendall test and wavelet analysis methods were applied to analyze the precipitation variability. In terms of temporal variation of precipitation, the results indicated that the annual precipitation exhibited a significant decreasing trend during 1951–2018. Except for summer precipitation representing a slightly increasing trend, the other seasonal precipitations had a similar decreasing trend to annual precipitation throughout 1951–2018. The monthly precipitation had different change trends, showing the precipitation from June to September could account for 58.4% of the total annual precipitation. In addition, it was clear that annual precipitation had a significant periodic change, with the periods of 6, 13, 19, and 27 years. For the spatial variation of precipitation during 1961–2018, the results showed that annual and seasonal precipitation exhibited obvious spatial differences, indicating an increasing spatial trend from north to south. Thus, understanding the precipitation variation in Xi'an city can provide a theoretical foundation of future water resources management for other cities in semi-arid regions of northwest China. HIGHLIGHTS There were different variation trends in annual, seasonal and monthly precipitation at a temporal scale.; The annual precipitation in Xi'an city had a significantly increasing trend during 1951–2018.; The annual and seasonal precipitation exhibited obvious spatial differences during 1961–2018.; Findings could guide future water resource management and allocation of other cities in semiarid regions of northwest China.;

Keywords

• mann–kendall test
• periodicity analysis
• precipitation
• spatial and temporal variations
• wavelet analysis
• xi'an city