Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (12): 1875-1884.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.12.01

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Climate dry-wet conditions, changes, and their driving factors in Xinjiang

DONG Hanlin1(),WANG Wenting2(),XIE Yun1,2,Aydana YESINALI1,JIANG Yuantian2,XU Jiaqi1   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    2. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2023-05-05 Revised:2023-09-11 Online:2023-12-15 Published:2023-12-18

Abstract:

Based on daily observations from 56 meteorological stations from 1961 to 2019, this study analyzed dry-wet conditions, changes, and their underlying driving factors in Xinjiang. The main findings are as follows: (1) In the past 59 years, the Xinjiang climate has changed significantly from dry to wet, with the aridity index (AI) changing at a rate of 0.01·(10a)-1 (P < 0.01). The number of stations with a significant upward trend of AI accounted for 57.1%. (2) The annual precipitation in Xinjiang increased significantly at a rate of 8.6 mm·(10a)-1 from 1961 to 2019, consistent with the change in AI. Conversely, the annual reference evapotranspiration (ET0) showed a significant decreasing trend at a rate of -15.7 mm·(10a)-1. However, it is worth noting that ET0 transitioned around 1990. ET0 continued to decrease before 1990 and then switched to a fluctuating upward trend. (3) Wind speed and relative humidity primarily influenced ET0 variation. Wind speed exhibited a consistent decreasing trend across the entire region, while approximately half of the stations observed a decline in relative humidity. The combined effect of these factors significantly decreased ET0 at nearly 50% of the stations in Xinjiang. Moreover, trends in relative humidity from increasing to decreasing trends and wind speed from decreasing to increasing around 1990 contribute to the differences in ET0 trends between the two periods. The conclusions achieved here provide valuable insights into understanding the dry-wet changes and their underlying driving factors in Xinjiang and have implications for the rational development and use of water resources in this region.

Key words: climate dry-wet changes, aridity index, evapotranspiration, driving factors, Xinjiang