Trends in day-to-day variability of surface air temperature in China during 1961-2012

Using daily mean, maximum, and minimum surface air temperature (abbreviated as T mean , T max , and T min , respectively) data from CN05.2 and the Met Office Hadley Centre observation data-sets for 1961-2012, the trends in day-to-day variability of T mean , T max , and T min (abbreviated as DVTT mean , DVTT max , and DVTT min , respectively) are examined. It is revealed that the annual trends of DVTT mean , DVTT max , and DVTT min are all negative in Northeast China (NEC), and more obvious in North China than in South China. Seasonal trends of DVTT mean are also negative in NEC, except in summer. For DVTT max , trends are generally more obvious than DVTT min in all seasons in NEC; moreover, trends in spring are obvious in both the north and the south, but trends in summer and winter are more obvious in the southern region than in the northern part. As far as DVTT min is concerned, except in autumn, seasonal trends are more obvious in the north than in other regions of the country.