Open AccessTemporal variations in reference evapotranspiration in the Tarim River basin, Central Asia
Author(s) -
Hao Wu,
Min Xu,
Zhuoyue Peng,
Xiaoping Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0252840
Subject(s) - evapotranspiration , tarim basin , environmental science , water resources , wind speed , trend analysis , tarim river , arid , structural basin , irrigation , climatology , water cycle , climate change , hydrology (agriculture) , relative humidity , physical geography , geography , meteorology , ecology , geology , biology , statistics , paleontology , mathematics , geotechnical engineering
Reference evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) is important for agricultural production and the hydrological cycle. Knowledge of ET 0 can aid the appropriate allocation of irrigation water in arid regions. This study analyzed the trends in ET 0 over different timescales in the Tarim River basin (TRB), Central Asia. ET 0 was calculated by the Penman-Monteith method using data from 1960–2017 from 30 meteorological stations located in the TRB. The Mann-Kendall (MK) test with trend-free prewhitening and Sen’s slope estimator were applied to detect trends in ET 0 variation. The results showed that the mean ET 0 decreased at a rate of 0.49 mm·10 a -1 on an annual timescale. The mean ET 0 exhibited a decreasing trend in summer and increasing trends in other seasons. The effects of climatic factors on ET 0 were assessed by sensitivity analysis and contribution rate analysis. Maximum temperature (T max ), relative humidity (RH) and wind speed (WS) showed important effects on ET 0 . However, WS, which decreased, was the key element that induced changes in ET 0 in the TRB. This work provides an important baseline for the management of agricultural water resources and scientific planning in agriculture.