Attribute Analysis of Aridity Variability in North Xinjiang, China

Yanfeng Wu,Hong Shen,Batur Bake,Y Jun Xu,Guangxin Zhang

doi:10.1155/2016/9610960

Abstract

Identifying the dominant meteorological factors affecting aridity variability can improve our understanding of climate change and its future trend in arid and semiarid regions. This study investigated the spatiotemporal aridity variability in North Xinjiang, China, from 1961 to 2013, based on the UNESCO aridity index (precipitation/potential evapotranspiration), and analyzed its association with meteorological factors. The results suggest that North Xinjiang is becoming more humid with an increasing trend in aridity index. Precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity have positive correlation with aridity, and evapotranspiration, sunshine hours, and wind speed have negative correlation with aridity. Wind speed and sunshine hours have a higher sensitivity and more contribution to aridity. This study provides an understanding of the effect of recent climate change on drought in northwest China.

Highlights

Climate change can alter the frequency, intensity, and duration of precipitation in many regions in the world
The region is within the great Eurasian steppe land and its vast steppe ecosystem of temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrub lands is sensitive to change in water availability [5, 6]
The UNESCO aridity index (AI) is used in this study as a quantitative indicator to describe the water deficiency/aridity associated with the North Xinjiang (NX)

Summary

Introduction

Climate change can alter the frequency, intensity, and duration of precipitation in many regions in the world. Aridity indices are commonly used to detect potential risks of occurrence and severity of aridity changes and spatiotemporal patterns To this end, many aridity indexes, that is, Budyko’s aridity index [11], aridity intensity index [12], Pinna aridity indices [13], De Martonne aridity index [14, 15], Thornthwaite aridity index [16, 17], and UNESCO aridity index [18], have been proposed and used based on different variables and parameters. The UNESCO AI is used in this study as a quantitative indicator to describe the water deficiency/aridity associated with the NX

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion