Spatiotemporal patterns and variations of winter extreme precipitation over terrestrial northern hemisphere in the past century (1901–2017)

In this study, the spatiotemporal distributions and variation characteristics of winter extreme precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere over the past century (1901–2017) were analyzed using trend analysis and spatial analysis. These analyses utilized the monthly average dataset of surface climatic factors (CRU TS4.03), and years with extreme precipitation was defined based on the standard deviation method. The following results were obtained. (1) In the past century, the frequency of years with more winter extreme precipitation (denoted as more-extreme years) in the Northern Hemisphere was higher than that of years with less winter extreme precipitation (denoted as less-extreme years), with return periods of 10 years and 14 years, respectively. The frequency of more-extreme years increased significantly (P < 0.05), and the less-extreme years were minimal changes (P > 0.05) (2) The frequencies of more-extreme years and less-extreme years were higher in middle and high latitudes than in low latitudes. Significant increases in the frequencies of more-extreme years were observed in middle and high latitudes, while an significant increase in the frequency of less-extreme years was observed in low latitudes. The frequency of more-extreme years in high latitudes increased the most rapidly. (3) In the past century, the frequencies of more-extreme years and less-extreme years over terrestrial Northern Hemisphere ranged from 5 to 15%. The frequency of more-extreme years ...

Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - December 24, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research