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Hydrological extremes in the Aksu‑tarim river Basin: Climatology and regime shift
Precipitation data between 1961 and 2010 from 39 meteorological stations in the Tarim River Basin are analyzed to classify and investigate hydrological drought and wetness conditions by using the standardized precipitation index (SPI). The leading time and spatial variability of hydrological drought has been investigated by applying a principal component analysis and Varimax rotation to the SPI on a time scale of 24 months. The results suggest that the western basin is characterized by a clear tendency towards wetter conditions after the middle of the 1980s, which results from an increase in the number of wet extremes and can be considered as a regime shift. Subdividing the period of analysis into two parts (1961–1986 and 1987–2010) this change can be clearly seen in a shift of the probability distribution function of precipitation events. Composite analyses of monthly mean geopotential height fields and wind fields of the ERA-40 data set show that enhanced wetness in the Tarim River Basin after the middle of 1980s is closely related to cyclonic anomalies on the European continent and circulation anomalies over mid-latitude of the Northern Hemisphere. Further correlation analysis between the principal components of SPI and large circulation indices shows that hydrological extremes in the Tarim River Basin correlate with indices related to the polar vortex and subtropical high.
Hydrological extremes in the Aksu-Tarim River Basin: Mid-latitude dynamics
Analyses of precipitation (1961–2010) from 39 meteorological stations in the Tarim River Basin revealed a trend from dryer towards wetter conditions induced by an increase of the number of wet extremes. A first (1961–1986) and second (1987–2010) period are the basis for a dynamical analysis of changing drought and wetness extremes which are closely related to cyclonic activity over the European continent and circulation anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Wave train, cyclone tracks, water flux and potential vorticity (PV) front analysis of the wet and dry months show the following result: (1) The extreme wet and dry cases in winter and summer are characterized by distinguished wave train patterns upstream of the Tarim River Basin. All wave trains originate in the Atlantic–European sector pointing towards wave train dynamics as one possible mechanism underlying the connection patterns observed. (2) The selected extreme cases show that exceptional precipitation events can be connected to characteristic cyclone tracks and a PV front in the upper troposphere even if cyclone tracks never cross the Tarim Basin. Extremely wet winters are characterized by cyclone tracks close to the western and northern boundary of the Tarim Basin whereas, during extremely dry winters, such cyclone tracks are absent. Wet summers are characterized by long-lived cyclonic anomalies at the north western corner of the Tarim River Basin [see also (3)]. During dry summers such anomalies are absent. (3) On a more local level the hydrological extreme events are linked to special dynamical structures of the upper tropospheric PV front. In winter strong (extreme) precipitation is connected to a strong non-linear wave development or a wave-breaking event over the Tarim River Basin. Together with non-linear wave development moisture and precipitation areas are advected towards the Tarim River Basin. In dry winters the upper tropospheric PV front is much more zonally oriented and wave-breaking is less frequent. Strong precipitation events are connected to strong breaking events and to the formation of long-lived nearly stationary cyclones over or north of the Tarim River Basin during extremely wet summer months.