Elevation gradient dependence of extreme climate indices on Yunnan Plateau, China

Abstract

The acceleration of global warming leads to frequent extreme weather events. The sensitivity of high-elevation regions to global warming makes their extremes more prominent. Based on the software Rclimdex1.0, 15 extreme climate indices from 120 meteorological stations in Yunnan from 1960 to 2019 were calculated. Trend analysis, correlation analysis, and cross-correlation analysis were used to investigate the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of these extreme climate indices. The results showed that, except CDD, other extreme precipitation indices were negatively correlated with the increase of elevation. The extreme warming indices (SU25, WSDI, TX90p, TN90p) showed an increasing trend with the increase of elevation, while the extreme cold indices (CSDI, FD0, TX10p, TN10p) showed a decreasing trend with the increase of elevation. The rate of nocturnal warming at high elevations is higher than that at low elevations. The change rate of extreme warmth indices (SU25, WSDI, TX90p, TN90p) and extreme cold indices (FD0, CSDI, TX10p, TN10p) was negatively correlated (p