Spatial-temporal change in precipitation patterns based on the cloud model across the Wei River Basin, China

Abstract

It is of significant importance to investigate the spatial-temporal change in precipitation patterns due to its great effects on droughts, floods, soil erosion and water resource management. A complete investigation of precipitation structure and its distribution pattern based on daily precipitation covering 1960–2005 at 21 meteorological stations in the Wei River Basin has been performed. In order to comprehensively and objectively describe the changing pattern of precipitation, the cloud model is employed to quantitatively analyse the average, uniformity and stability of precipitation. Results indicate the following: (1) the occurrence of different precipitation durations exhibits a positive exponential curve with the decrease in precipitation durations, and 1–3-day events are the predominant precipitation events which have an increasing trend; (2) precipitation and its non-uniformity is increasingly reducing, while its stability increases initially then decreases; (3) mean precipitation reduces from southeast to northwest, and the precipitation of the Guanzhong Plain has a low uniformity and stability due to its location and increasingly intensifying human activities. The cloud model provides a new idea and quantitative measure for the evaluation of the uniformity and stability of precipitation.