Variations in earlywood width (EWW) of Chinese pine in the Nanwutai Mountain were used to develop high-resolution climate proxy data to extend existing climate records in Guanzhong Plain, Shaanxi Province, China. Growth–climate response analyses showed the EWW series in Nanwutai Mountain are mainly influenced by spring and early summer precipitation. Based on the EWW series derived from the Nanwutai Mountain, we developed an April–June precipitation reconstruction for Xi'an for the period 1800–2009. The climate/tree-growth model accounts for 36.4% of the instrumental precipitation variance during the period 1951–2009. Spatial climate correlation analyses with the gridded precipitation data revealed that our precipitation reconstruction contains a strong regional precipitation signal for the Guanzhong Plain. Our reconstruction successfully captured recent climatic changes and agreed, in general, with other tree-ring-based precipitation reconstructions from nearby regions on a decadal timescale. The rainfall/drought series in northern China also showed highly synchronous decreasing trends since the 1970s, suggesting that precipitation related to the East Asian summer monsoon has decreased by large spatial and temporal (decadal) scales. In addition, wavelet analysis revealed the existence of some decadal (13.3-year) and interannual (9.1-, 5.4-, 3.1-, and 2.1-year) cycles, which may potentially be the fingerprints of some proposed climate change forcings, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation and solar activities.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
November 15 2014
April–June precipitation reconstruction for Xi'an and drought assessment for the Guanzhong Plain from tree rings of Chinese pine
Feng Chen;
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Yujiang Yuan;
Yujiang Yuan
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Wenshou Wei;
Wenshou Wei
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Ziang Fan;
Ziang Fan
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Ruibo Zhang;
Ruibo Zhang
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Shulong Yu
Shulong Yu
1Xinjiang Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology/Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research of China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Journal of Water and Climate Change (2015) 6 (3): 638–646.
Article history
Received:
May 04 2014
Accepted:
October 17 2014
Citation
Feng Chen, Yujiang Yuan, Wenshou Wei, Ziang Fan, Ruibo Zhang, Shulong Yu; April–June precipitation reconstruction for Xi'an and drought assessment for the Guanzhong Plain from tree rings of Chinese pine. Journal of Water and Climate Change 1 September 2015; 6 (3): 638–646. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2014.245
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
eBook
Pay-Per-View Access
$38.00