Accumulated temperature changes in desert region and surrounding area during 1960-2013: a case study in the Alxa Plateau, Northwest China.

Based on the data of the Alxa desert region and 27 meteorological stations recorded by 1960-2013, T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperatures were analyzed by using sliding average, linear regression, Mann-Kendall abrupt change test, and kriging interpolation methods. The results show that the T ≥ 0 °C accumulated temperature increased significantly by 9.94 °C/a and that of the T ≥ 10 °C increased by 8.88 °C/a during 1960-2013. The increases in the eastern study area were the most obvious, followed by those in the western and central regions. Additionally, the trends of these regions were highly consistent with that of the entire study area. The accumulated temperatures in the study area increased modestly prior to the 1980s, after which time a fairly steady climb began during the late 1980s. The two abrupt change points of T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C were in 1996 and 1998, respectively. Additionally, the accumulated temperatures increased significantly around 2000. The analysis shows that higher accumulated temperature occurred in the Alxa desert region than in the surrounding area. The distribution of increases in T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperatures around the study area presented varying spatial differentiation. For T ≥ 0 °C accumulated temperature, an increase at the edge of the Tengger desert was the most obvious. T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperature exhibited a smaller increase than that of T ≥ 0 °C. In addition, the smallest amplitude of temperature increase was measured in the central Alxa desert region and in the surrounding area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]