Abstract:

Research on extreme temperature is of great significance to ecological and environmental protection and disaster warning in the context of climate change. Based on the daily temperature data observed from 32 meteorological stations from 1960 to 2013, we studied the spatial distributions of air temperature and extreme temperature in the Shaanxi section in Qinling Mountains by integrating the methods of Kriging interpolation, linearity estimation and correlation analysis and the RClimDex software. The results showed that: (1) The annual average temperature, maximum temperature and minimum temperature in the study area were 10.48℃, 16.44℃ and 6.18℃ during the last 54 years, respectively. The temperature on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains was higher than that on the northern slope in the middle-altitude area and high-altitude area, and lower than that in northern slope in the low-altitude area. The difference in air temperature between the northern and southern slopes was lower in the low-altitude area and greater in the middle-altitude area. (2) The frequency, intensity and duration of extreme temperature all tended to increase in the Qinling Mountains. The zones sensitive to extreme temperature change were Zhenan and Zhashui located on the southern slope as well as Zhouzhi and Huxian on the northern slope. (3) The variety of the extreme temperature change was more obvious in frequency on the northern slope while in intensity and duration on the southern slope. Moreover, warming occurred mainly in the night on the northern slope but in the daytime on the southern slope. (4) The warming rate of extreme temperature in the study area increased with the increase of altitude. The change of frequency and intensity of extreme temperature was more obvious in the high-altitude area, and the duration of extreme temperature more obvious in the middle-altitude area.

Key words: Shaanxi section in Qinling Mountains, climate change, extreme temperature, spatial variation