Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2014, Vol. 69 ›› Issue (3): 303-311.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201403002

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Variation of starting date of pre-summer rainy season in South China from 1736 to 2010

DING Lingling1,2, GE Quansheng2, ZHENG Jingyun2, HAO Zhixin2   

  1. 1. Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, Hubei, China;
    2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2013-10-27 Revised:2014-12-10 Online:2014-03-20 Published:2014-03-20
  • Supported by:
    National Program on Key Basic Research of China,No.2010CB950100;"Strategic Priority Research Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,No.XDA05080100;National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China,No.2011FY120300

Abstract: Based on the documented characteristics of Yu (rainfall)-Xue (snowfall)-Fen (Chinese length unit, 0.32 cm approximately)-Cun (10-Fens) archive in the Qing Dynasty, together with the features of precipitation in pre-summer rainy season in South China, the methods to reconstruct the starting date of pre-summer rainy season in South China was designed. Using the Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun archive, the series of starting date of pre-summer rainy season in Fuzhou and Guangzhou were reconstructed from 1736 to 1911. And the series of starting date of pre-summer rainy season during the instrumental period were identified by daily precipitation records in Fuzhou during 1953-2010 and Guangzhou during 1952-2010. The inter-annual and inter-decadal changes of the starting date for pre-summer rainy season in South China over the past 300 years were analyzed. The results show that the mean of starting date of pre-summer rainy season in South China was the first pentad of May; however there existed obvious inter-annual and inter-decadal variabilities in the starting date of pre-summer rainy season over South China, with quasi-cycles of 2~3 years, 10 years and 40 years during 1736-1911 and those of 2~3 years, 10 years and 22 years during the instrumental periods. The starting date in the earliest year was the fourth pentad of April, while the starting date in the latest year was the sixth pentad of May in Fuzhou and the first pentad of June in Guangzhou during 1736 to 1911; while the starting date in the earliest year and the latest year was the fourth pentad of April and the first pentad of June in Fuzhou during 1953-2010 and Guangzhou during 1952-2010. The maximum magnitude between the adjacent decades was 2.2 pentads in Fuzhou and 1.6 pentads in Guangzhou during the reconstructed periods; while it was 2.5 pentads and 2.4 pentads during the instrumental periods.

Key words: precipitation variation, South China, rainy season reconstruction, the starting date of pre-summer rainy season, Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun