The trend of temperature of the Qilian Mountains in the Northwest of China

Abstract

Temperature is one of the important climatological factors which affects the hydrological processes in a watershed, and is commonly used to investigate the change of climate. The distribution and trend of annual and seasonal mean temperature for 44 meteorological stations in Qilian Mountains over a period of 1960 to 2017 were analyzed by using linear regression. The mean annual temperature ranges from -2.8 to 9.7°C, and is above 0°C below middle mountains. However, the mean temperature of summer is maximum above 43.1°C, and is minimum in winter below -41.6°C. Vertical of mean annual temperature is distributed significantly. The distribution of mean annual temperature is higher in northern slope than in southern, and higher in northwest than in southeast. The warming trend is very strong in winter, and has a certain dependence on the altitude above the 37.5°of northern latitude, which is different in different seasons. The result of the present research would be helpful to promote ecological protection, adjustment of agricultural structure, and management of water resources in the Qilian Mountains.