Abstract
An hour precipitation dataset of 42 automatic weather stations is developed and applied to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of light precipitation in urban areas of Beijing City during 2007–2017. The stations are classified into three groups, including 18 sites in central urban area (4th Ring-Road, RR), 10 sites in peri-urban area (4th–5th RR), and 14 sites in suburban area (5th–6th RR). Light precipitation is defined as hourly rainfall of 0.1–0.3 mm. Analysis shows that light precipitation occurred in urban area the whole day, with the peak value in 0600 LST and minimum value in 1600 LST; monthly variation of light precipitation frequency (LPF) was characterized by the highest value in summer and the lowest value in winter; remarkable differences are found for the various urbanized areas, with the annual and seasonal mean LPF being generally small in central urban area and gradually increasing toward suburban area; the hourly mean LPFs during morning and nighttime are higher in summer than those in other seasons in each of the urban areas; relative humidity, aerosol, and wind speed might have been the major influential factors for the observed temporal and spatial pattern of light precipitation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bornstein RD, LeRoy GM (1990) Urban barrier effects on convective and frontal thunderstorms. Extended Abstracts, Fourth Conf Mesoscale Processes, Boulder, CO Amer. Meteor Soc 120:121
Carlos AO, Arturo IQ, Graciela BR (2015) Changes in intense precipitation events in Mexico City. J Hydrometeorol 16:1804–1820. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-14-0081.1
Chakravarti AK, Archibold W (2008) Patterns of diurnal variation of growing season precipitation on the canadian prairies: a harmonic analysis. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 37:16–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1993.tb01537.x
Changnon SA (1979) Rainfall changes in summer caused by St. Louis Science 205:402–404
Changnon SA, Shealy RT, Scott RW (1991) Precipitation changes in fall, winter and spring caused by St. Louis. J Appl Meteorol 30:126–134. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1991)030<0126:PCIFWA>2.0.CO;2
Chen GX, Sha WM, Iwasaki T (2009) Diurnal variation of precipitation over southeastern China: spatial distribution and its seasonality. J Geophys Res-Atmos 114:D13. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012181
Chen S, Li WB, Du YD, Mao CY, Zhang L (2015) Effect of urbanization on precipitation over the Pearl River Delta based on CMORPH data. Adv Clim Chang Res 6:16–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2015.08.002
Cutrim EMC, Martin DW, Butzow DG, Isa MS (2000) Pilot analysis of hourly rainfall in Central and Eastern Amazonia. J Clim 13:1326–1334
Dou JJ, Wang YC, Miao SG (2015) Observed spatial characteristics of Beijing urban climate impacts on summer thunderstorms. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 54:94–104. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0355.1
Fu CB, Dan L (2014) Trends in the different grades of precipitation over South China during 1960-2010 and the possible link with anthropogenic aerosols. Adv Atmos Sci 31:480–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-013-2102-7
Fu JL, Qian WH, Lin X, Chen DL (2008) Trends in graded precipitation in China from 1961 to 2000. Adv Atmos Sci 25:267–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-008-0267-2
Fu CB, Dan L, Chen H, He X (2014) The spatiotemporal characteristics of light rain days and low cloud cover under heavy pollution in South China. J Trop Meteorol 30:1098–1106. https://doi.org/10.16555/j.1006-8775.2017.02.011
Fujibe F, Yamazaki N, Katsuyama M, Kobayashi K (2005) The increasing trend of intense precipitation in Japan based on four-hourly data for a hundred years. SOLA 1:41–44. https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2005012
Gao XC, ZhuQ YZY, Liu JH, Wang H, Shao WW, Huang GR (2018) Temperature dependence of hourly, daily, and event-based precipitation extremes over China. Sci Rep 8:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35405-4
Gong DY, Wang SW (2000) Severe rainfall in China associated with the enhanced global warming. Clim Res 16:51–59
Goswami BN, Venugopal V, Sengupta D, Madhusoodanan MS, Xavier PK (2006) Increasing trend of extreme rain events over India in a warming environment. Science 314:1442–1445. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132027
Han JY, Baik JJ, Lee H (2014) Urban impacts on precipitation. Asia-Pac J Atmos Sci 50:17–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-014-0016-7
Huang G, Wen GH (2013) Spatial and temporal variations of light rain events over China and the mid-high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Chin Sci Bull 58:1402–1411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5593-1
Kalnay E, Cai M (2003) Impact of urbanization and land-use change on climate. Nature 423:528–531
Li X, Su Z (2014) Suppression of light precipitation by air pollution: a comparison between observations in South China and the Tibetan Plateau. ActaMeteorol Sin 72:596–605. https://doi.org/10.11676/qxxb2014.033
Liang PY, Ding H, He JH, Tang X (2011) Study of relationship between urbanization speed and change of spatial distribution of rainfall over Shanghai. J Trop Meteorol 27:475–483
Lin YL, Smith RB (1986) Transient dynamics of airflow near a local heat source. J Atmos Sci 43:40–49
Liu B, Xu M, Henderson M, Qi Y (2005) Observed trends of precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity in China, 1960–2000. J Geophys Res 110:D08103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004864
Ma SM, Zhou TJ (2015) Observed trends in the timing of wet and dry season in China and the associated changes in frequency and duration of daily precipitation. Int J Climatol 35:4631–4641. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4312
Miao SG, Chen F, Li QC, Fan SY (2010) Impacts of urban processes and urbanization on summer precipitation: a case study of heavy rainfall in Beijing on 1 August 2006. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 50:506–825. https://doi.org/10.1002/2010JAMC2513.1
Mu, X. D., H. P. Liu, and X. J. Xue, 2012: Urban growth in Beijing from 1984–2007 as gauged by remote sensing. J. Beijing Norm. Univ., 48, 81–85
Oke TR (1982) The energetic basis of the urban heat-island. Q J R Meteorol Soc 108:1–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710845502
Pathirana AH, Denekew B, Veerbeek W, Zevenbergen C, Banda TA (2014) Impact of urban growth-driven land use change microclimate and extreme precipitation- a sensitivity. Atmos Res 138:59–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2013.10.005
Pendergrass AG, Hartmann DL (2014) Changes in the distribution of rain frequency and intensity in response to global warming. J Clim 27:8372–8383. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00183.1
Qian Y, Gong DY, Fan JW, Leung LR, Bennartz R, Chen DL, Wang WG (2009a) Heavy pollution suppresses light rain in China: observations and modeling. J Geodyn 114:2. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011575
Qian YD, Gong JF, Leung LR, Bennartz R, Chen D, Wang W (2009b) Heavy pollution suppresses light rain in China: observations and modeling. J Geophys Res 114:D00K02. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011575
Ramanathan V, Crutzen PJ, Kiehl JT, Rosenfeld D (2001) Aerosols, climate and the hydrological cycle. Science 294:2119–2124
Ren GY, Zhou YQ (2014) Urbanization effects on trends of extreme temperature indices of national stations over mainland China, 1961-2008. J Clim 27:2340–2360. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00393.1
Ren GY, Ren YY, Zhan YJ, Sun XB, Liu YJ, Chen Y, Wang T (2015) Spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation variability over mainland China: II: recent trends. Adv Water Sci 26:451–465
Ren GY, Liu Y, Sun X, Zhang L, Ren YY, Xu Y, Zhang H, Zhan YJ, Wang T (2016) Spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation variability over mainland China: III Causes for recent trends. Adv Water Sci 27:327–347
Robert T (2010) An analysis of diurnal variations of heavy hourly precipitation in Kraków using a classification of circulation types over southern Poland. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth Parts A/B/C 35:461
Rosenfeld D (2000) Suppression of rain and snow by and industrial urban air pollution. Science 287:1793–1796. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5459.1793
Rosenfeld D, Dai J, Yu X, Yao ZY, Xu XH, Yang X, Du CL (2007) Inverse relations between amounts of air pollution and orographic precipitation. Science 315:1396–1398
Seto K, Shepherd JM (2009) Global urban land-use trends and climate impacts. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 1:89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2009.07.012
Shastri H, Paul S, Ghosh S, Ghosh S, Karmakar S (2015) Impacts of urbanization on Indian summer monsoon rainfall extremes. J Geophys Res-Atmos 120:496–516
Stevens B, Feingold G (2009) Untangling aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in a buffered system. Nature 461:607–613
Stewart ID, Oke TR (2012) “Local climate zones” for urban temperature studies. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 93:1879–1900. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00019.1
Storer RL, van den Heever S, Stephens GL (2010) Modeling Aerosol impacts on convective storms in different environments. J Atmos Sci 67:3904–3915
Thielen J, Wobrock W, Gadian A, Mestayer PG, Creutin JD (2000) The possible influence of urban surfaces on rainfall development: a sensitivity study in 2D in the meso-γ-scale. Atmos Res 54:15–39
Trenberth KE (2011) Changes in precipitation with climate change. Clim Res 47:123–138
Wen GH, Huang G, Tao WC, Liu CX (2016) Observed trends in light precipitation events over global land during 1961-2010. Theor Appl Climatol 125:161–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1500-4
Williams E (2002) Contrasting convective regimes over the Amazon: implications for cloud electrification. J Geophys Res 107:8082. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD000380
Wu J, Ling CY, Zhao DM, Zhao B (2016) A counterexample of aerosol suppressing light rain in Southwest China during 1951-2011. Atmos Sci Lett 17:487–491. https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.682
Wu W, Chang X, Xing J, Wang SX (2017) Assessment of PM2.5 pollution Mitigation due to emission reduction from main emission sources in the Bejing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Environ Sci 38:867–875
Xing SQ, Li XF (2019) Diurnal variation of global precipitation: an analysis of cmorph data. J Trop Meteorol:45–53. https://doi.org/10.16555/j.1006-8775.2019.01.005
Yan ZW, Yang C (2000) Geographic patterns of climate extreme changes in China during 1951–1997. Clim Environ Res 5:267–272
Yang P, Ren GY (2019) Hou W (2019) Impact of daytime precipitation duration on urban heat island intensity over Beijing City. Urban Clim 28:100463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim
Yang P, Ren GY, Liu WD (2013) Spatial and temporal characteristics of Beijing urban heat island intensity. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 52:1803–1816. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-12-0125.1
Yang P, Ren GY, Hou W (2017a) Temporal-spatial patterns of relative humidity and the urban dryness island effect in Beijing city. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 56:2221–2237. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-16-0338.1
Yang P, Ren GY, Yan PC (2017b) Evidence for a strong association of short-duration intense rainfall with urbanization in the Beijing urban area. J Clim 30:5851–5870. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0671.1
Yang P, Xiao ZN, Shi WJ (2017c) Fine-scale characteristics of rainfall in Beijing urban area based on a high-density AWS dataset. Chin J Atmos Sci 41:475–489
Zhai PM, Zhang XB, Wan H (2005) Pan XH. Trends in total precipitation and frequency of daily precipitation extremes over China J Clim 18:1096–1108
Zhong S, Qian Y, Zhao C, Leung LR, Yang X (2015) A case study of urbanization impact on summer precipitation in the Greater B. J Geophys Res-Atmos 120:10903–10914. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023753
Zhou J, Zhi R, Li YH, Zhao JH, Xiang B, Wu Y, Feng GL (2020) Possible causes of the significant decrease in the number of summer days with light rain in the east of southwestern China. Atmos Res 236:104804
Data and materials availability
The code, data, and material used in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Funding
This study is financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China Grant No. (2018YFA0606302) and China Natural Science Foundation (CNSF) (Fund Nos: 41775078, 41675092, and 41575003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Ren raised the questions and designed the study. Yang performed the data analysis and completed the manuscript. Yan and Deng assisted in processing data and drawing the figures.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
The authors agree to publication in Theoretical and Applied Climatology.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, P., Ren, G., Yan, P. et al. Urbanization reduces frequency of light rain: an example from Beijing City. Theor Appl Climatol 145, 763–774 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-021-03655-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-021-03655-4