Spatial-temporal distribution characteristics of extreme and drought over China, during 1960-2015

With global warming, extreme precipitation and drought events are often prone to intensify in some regions. Variations in the spatiotemporal distribution of both global and regional precipitation are among the most relevant aspects of climate change in a globally warming world. Some studies indicate that global temperature difference between day and night presents a downward trend, but annual rainfall and rainfall extremes have been rising since the beginning of the twentieth century. Understanding spatial-temporal distribution characteristics of extreme precipitation and drought is very important for simulating and mitigating natural hazards (e.g., floods, landslides and debris). In this study, we analyzed two indices of extreme precipitation and one drought index (composite index, CI), and investigate the long-term trends in extreme events based on a Man-Kendall non-parametric method at 827 meteorological stations from 1960 to 2015. We find an overall increasing trend in daily extreme precipitations in South-East and North-West of China. Moreover, more than 200 stations located in metropolitan regions experience higher increasing trends of daily extreme precipitations, particularly in Shanghai and Guangzhou metropolitan areas.