Open AccessSpatiotemporal analysis of potential evapotranspiration in the Changwu tableland from 1957 to 2012
Author(s) -
Han Xiaoyang,
Liu Wenzhao,
Lin Wen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.1490
Subject(s) - evapotranspiration , loess plateau , environmental science , sunshine duration , climatology , wind speed , meteorology , precipitation , soil science , geology , geography , ecology , biology
The Changwu tableland is located in the semi‐humid to semi‐arid transition area of the Loess Plateau, China. In the present study, the daily potential evapotranspiration ( ET 0 ) of the Changwu tableland was calculated using the FAO Penman–Monteith ( FPM ) equation for the years 1957–2012, and the temporal variation and frequency distribution characteristics were analysed. The results indicate that the annual average ET 0 of the Changwu tableland was 949.3 mm, varying from 789.2 to 1093.3 mm; a slight downward trend with a rate of −0.48 mm year −1 was found. An abrupt increase occurred in 1994. The ET 0 values that correspond to frequencies of 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90 and 95% were 1076.8, 1047.6, 999.7, 947.8, 897.3, 853.0 and 827.0 mm, respectively. The recurrence intervals of maximum and minimum ET 0 were both more than 50 years. The contributions of T max , T min , vapour pressure, wind speed and sunshine hours to changes in ET 0 were 0.74, 0.07, −0.51, −0.57 and −0.23, respectively. The change in ET 0 and the meteorological factors in the Changwu tableland are worthy of attention; measures to reduce the negative impacts of climate change are necessary.