Temporal and spatial changes of temperature and precipitation in Hexi Corridor during 1955-2011

This study is focused on the northwestern part of Gansu Province, namely the Hexi Corridor. The aim is to address the question of whether any trend in the annual and monthly series of temperature and precipitation during the period 1955-2011 appears at the scale of this region. The temperature and precipitation variation and abrupt change were examined by means of linear regression, five-year moving average, non-parameter Mann-Kendall test, accumulated variance analysis and Pettitt test method. Conclusions provide evidence of warming and wetting across the Hexi Corridor. The mean annual temperature in Hexi Corridor increased significantly in recent 57 years, and the increasing rate was 0.27℃/10a. The abrupt change phenomenon of the annual temperature was detected mainly in 1986. The seasonal average temperature in this region exhibited an evident upward trend and the uptrend rate for the standard value of winter temperature indicated the largerst of four seasons. The annual precipitation in the Hexi Corridor area displayed an obviously increasing trend and the uptrend rate was 3.95 mm/10a. However, the annual precipitation in each basin of the Hexi Corridor area did not passed the significance test. The rainy season precipitation fluctuating as same as the annual one presented insignificant uptrend. No consistent abrupt change was detected in precipitation in this study area, but the rainy season precipitation abrupt change was mainly observed in 1968.