Linkage Between Hourly Precipitation Events and Atmospheric Temperature Changes over China during the Warm Season

Chiyuan Miao*, Qiaohong Sun, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Qingyun Duan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>We investigated changes in the temporospatial features of hourly precipitation during the warm season over mainland China. The frequency and amount of hourly precipitation displayed latitudinal zonation, especially for light and moderate precipitation, which showed successive downward change over time in northeastern and southern China. Changes in the precipitation amount resulted mainly from changes in frequency rather than changes in intensity. We also evaluated the linkage between hourly precipitation and temperature variations and found that hourly precipitation extreme was more sensitive to temperature than other categories of precipitation. A strong dependency of hourly precipitation on temperature occurred at temperatures colder than the median daily temperature; in such cases, regression slopes were greater than the Clausius-Clapeyron (C-C) relation of 7% per degree Celsius. Regression slopes for 31.6%, 59.8%, 96.9% and 99.1% of all stations were greater than 7% per degree Celsius for the 75th, 90th, 99th and 99.9th percentiles for precipitation, respectively. The mean regression slopes within the 99.9th percentile of precipitation were three times the C-C rate. Hourly precipitation showed a strong negative relationship with daily maximum temperature and the diurnal temperature range at most stations, whereas the equivalent correlation for daily minimum temperature was weak.</jats:p>
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages0
JournalScientific Reports
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2 Mar 2016

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