Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2008, Vol. 63 ›› Issue (1): 41-49.doi: 10.11821/xb200801005

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The Variation of Runoff of Red River Basin in Yunnanq

LI Yungang,HE Daming,YE Changqing   

  1. Asian International Rivers Center, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
  • Received:2007-07-15 Revised:2007-10-20 Online:2008-01-25 Published:2008-01-25
  • Supported by:

    National Key Project for Basic Research of China, No.2003CB415105

Abstract:

This paper studies the variation of runoff of Red River Basin and discusses the influence of "corridor-barrier" functions of valleys and mountains on variation of runoff by using GIS and statistic methods based on the monthly precipitation, temperature and evaporation data from 1960 to 2000 at 32 meteorological stations in the Red River Basin, and the annual runoff data of the Yuanjiang, Lixian and Panlong rivers from 1956 to 2000. The results showed out: (1) Under the effect of "corridor-barrier" functions of valleys and mountains in the Red River, the patterns of annual precipitation and runoff depth present in spatial change a NW-SE distribution, which was similar with the trend of the Red River valley and Ailao Mountains. (2) In the long temporal scale averaged over years, the most obvious effect of the "corridor-barrier" functions was on runoff variation, and the second was on the precipitation, but not obvious on the temperature: the precipitation in Lixian River Basin was greater than that in the Yuanjiang and Panlong rivers of the eastern Ailao Mountains, but the standard deviation was smaller than the latter two, an indication of the "barrier" effect from Ailao Mountains. The mean temperature difference was not obvious among the three regions. (3) Under the superposed effect of climate changes and the "corridor-barrier" functions of valleys and mountains in the Red River Basin, the difference in runoff variation was obvious in the east-west direction: the runoff variation of the Yuanjiang River along the Fault presented an ascending trend, but the Lixian River on the west side of the Fault and the Panlong River on the east presented a descending trend; the annual runoff of the Yuanjiang River and Lixian River had a quasi-5a period, and the Panlong River a quasi-8a period; and the runoff variations were quite inconsistent in different periods among the three river basins.

Key words: runoff, "corridor-barrier", functions, international rivers