Is the Pearl River basin, China, drying or wetting? Seasonal variations, causes and implications

Qiang Zhang; Jianfeng Li; Xihui Gu; Peijun Shi

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005

Is the Pearl River basin, China, drying or wetting? Seasonal variations, causes and implications

Qiang Zhang, Jianfeng Li^*, Xihui Gu^*, Peijun Shi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

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Abstract

Soil moisture plays crucial roles in the hydrological cycle and is also a critical link between land surface and atmosphere. The Pearl River basin (PRb) is climatically subtropical and tropical and is highly sensitive to climate changes. In this study, seasonal soil moisture changes across the PRb were analyzed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model forced by the gridded 0.5° × 0.5° climatic observations. Seasonal changes of soil moisture in both space and time were investigated using the Mann-Kendall trend test method. Potential influencing factors behind seasonal soil moisture changes such as precipitation and temperature were identified using the Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA) technique. The results indicated that: (1) VIC model performs well in describing changing properties of soil moisture across the PRb; (2) Distinctly different seasonal features of soil moisture can be observed. Soil moisture in spring decreased from east to west parts of the PRb. In summer however, soil moisture was higher in east and west parts but was lower in central parts of the PRb; (3) A significant drying trend was identified over the PRb in autumn, while no significant drying trends can be detected in other seasons; (4) The increase/decrease in precipitation can generally explain the wetting/drying tendency of soil moisture. However, warming temperature contributed significantly to the drying trends and these drying trends were particularly evident during autumn and winter; (5) Significant decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature combined to trigger substantially decreasing soil moisture in autumn. In winter, warming temperature is the major reason behind decreased soil moisture although precipitation is in slightly decreasing tendency. Season variations of soil moisture and related implications for hydro-meteorological processes in the subtropical and tropical river basins over the globe should arouse considerable human concerns.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	48-61
Number of pages	14
Journal	Global and Planetary Change
Volume	166
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005
Publication status	Published - Jul 2018

Scopus Subject Areas

Global and Planetary Change
Oceanography

User-Defined Keywords

China
Climate change
Seasonal variation
Soil moisture
Variable Infiltration Capacity model

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005

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@article{29ae26b277324ba2bd7b1cb052422b93,

title = "Is the Pearl River basin, China, drying or wetting? Seasonal variations, causes and implications",

abstract = "Soil moisture plays crucial roles in the hydrological cycle and is also a critical link between land surface and atmosphere. The Pearl River basin (PRb) is climatically subtropical and tropical and is highly sensitive to climate changes. In this study, seasonal soil moisture changes across the PRb were analyzed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model forced by the gridded 0.5° × 0.5° climatic observations. Seasonal changes of soil moisture in both space and time were investigated using the Mann-Kendall trend test method. Potential influencing factors behind seasonal soil moisture changes such as precipitation and temperature were identified using the Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA) technique. The results indicated that: (1) VIC model performs well in describing changing properties of soil moisture across the PRb; (2) Distinctly different seasonal features of soil moisture can be observed. Soil moisture in spring decreased from east to west parts of the PRb. In summer however, soil moisture was higher in east and west parts but was lower in central parts of the PRb; (3) A significant drying trend was identified over the PRb in autumn, while no significant drying trends can be detected in other seasons; (4) The increase/decrease in precipitation can generally explain the wetting/drying tendency of soil moisture. However, warming temperature contributed significantly to the drying trends and these drying trends were particularly evident during autumn and winter; (5) Significant decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature combined to trigger substantially decreasing soil moisture in autumn. In winter, warming temperature is the major reason behind decreased soil moisture although precipitation is in slightly decreasing tendency. Season variations of soil moisture and related implications for hydro-meteorological processes in the subtropical and tropical river basins over the globe should arouse considerable human concerns.",

keywords = "China, Climate change, Seasonal variation, Soil moisture, Variable Infiltration Capacity model",

author = "Qiang Zhang and Jianfeng Li and Xihui Gu and Peijun Shi",

note = "Funding Information: The work described in this paper was supported by the grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China (Project No. HKBU22301916 ), the Faculty Research Grant from Hong Kong Baptist University (Project No. FRG2/15-16/043 ), National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (No. 51425903 ), Creative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 41621061 ), the Strategic Priority Research Program Grant of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070402 ), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (Grant No. CUG180614 ). Observed daily precipitation and temperature are available at the National Meteorological Information Center for the China Meteorological Administration at http://www.cma.gov.cn/2011qxfw/2011qsjgx/ .",

year = "2018",

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doi = "10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005",

language = "English",

volume = "166",

pages = "48--61",

journal = "Global and Planetary Change",

issn = "0921-8181",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Is the Pearl River basin, China, drying or wetting? Seasonal variations, causes and implications

AU - Zhang, Qiang

AU - Li, Jianfeng

AU - Gu, Xihui

AU - Shi, Peijun

N1 - Funding Information: The work described in this paper was supported by the grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China (Project No. HKBU22301916 ), the Faculty Research Grant from Hong Kong Baptist University (Project No. FRG2/15-16/043 ), National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (No. 51425903 ), Creative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 41621061 ), the Strategic Priority Research Program Grant of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070402 ), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (Grant No. CUG180614 ). Observed daily precipitation and temperature are available at the National Meteorological Information Center for the China Meteorological Administration at http://www.cma.gov.cn/2011qxfw/2011qsjgx/ .

PY - 2018/7

Y1 - 2018/7

N2 - Soil moisture plays crucial roles in the hydrological cycle and is also a critical link between land surface and atmosphere. The Pearl River basin (PRb) is climatically subtropical and tropical and is highly sensitive to climate changes. In this study, seasonal soil moisture changes across the PRb were analyzed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model forced by the gridded 0.5° × 0.5° climatic observations. Seasonal changes of soil moisture in both space and time were investigated using the Mann-Kendall trend test method. Potential influencing factors behind seasonal soil moisture changes such as precipitation and temperature were identified using the Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA) technique. The results indicated that: (1) VIC model performs well in describing changing properties of soil moisture across the PRb; (2) Distinctly different seasonal features of soil moisture can be observed. Soil moisture in spring decreased from east to west parts of the PRb. In summer however, soil moisture was higher in east and west parts but was lower in central parts of the PRb; (3) A significant drying trend was identified over the PRb in autumn, while no significant drying trends can be detected in other seasons; (4) The increase/decrease in precipitation can generally explain the wetting/drying tendency of soil moisture. However, warming temperature contributed significantly to the drying trends and these drying trends were particularly evident during autumn and winter; (5) Significant decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature combined to trigger substantially decreasing soil moisture in autumn. In winter, warming temperature is the major reason behind decreased soil moisture although precipitation is in slightly decreasing tendency. Season variations of soil moisture and related implications for hydro-meteorological processes in the subtropical and tropical river basins over the globe should arouse considerable human concerns.

AB - Soil moisture plays crucial roles in the hydrological cycle and is also a critical link between land surface and atmosphere. The Pearl River basin (PRb) is climatically subtropical and tropical and is highly sensitive to climate changes. In this study, seasonal soil moisture changes across the PRb were analyzed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model forced by the gridded 0.5° × 0.5° climatic observations. Seasonal changes of soil moisture in both space and time were investigated using the Mann-Kendall trend test method. Potential influencing factors behind seasonal soil moisture changes such as precipitation and temperature were identified using the Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA) technique. The results indicated that: (1) VIC model performs well in describing changing properties of soil moisture across the PRb; (2) Distinctly different seasonal features of soil moisture can be observed. Soil moisture in spring decreased from east to west parts of the PRb. In summer however, soil moisture was higher in east and west parts but was lower in central parts of the PRb; (3) A significant drying trend was identified over the PRb in autumn, while no significant drying trends can be detected in other seasons; (4) The increase/decrease in precipitation can generally explain the wetting/drying tendency of soil moisture. However, warming temperature contributed significantly to the drying trends and these drying trends were particularly evident during autumn and winter; (5) Significant decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature combined to trigger substantially decreasing soil moisture in autumn. In winter, warming temperature is the major reason behind decreased soil moisture although precipitation is in slightly decreasing tendency. Season variations of soil moisture and related implications for hydro-meteorological processes in the subtropical and tropical river basins over the globe should arouse considerable human concerns.

KW - China

KW - Climate change

KW - Seasonal variation

KW - Soil moisture

KW - Variable Infiltration Capacity model

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U2 - 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005

DO - 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.04.005

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85046698158

SN - 0921-8181

VL - 166

SP - 48

EP - 61

JO - Global and Planetary Change

JF - Global and Planetary Change

ER -

Is the Pearl River basin, China, drying or wetting? Seasonal variations, causes and implications

Abstract

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