Clustering Daily Extreme Precipitation Patterns in China

Abstract

Different regions exhibit significant differences in the characteristics of extreme precipitation, and the differentiation of such characteristics is not reported for all regions. To distinguish the characteristics of extreme precipitation in different regions in China, we extracted the distribution characteristics of extreme precipitation from daily precipitation data at 649 stations in China, 1961–2017, spatially grouped them by cluster analysis, and, finally, evaluated the effectiveness of zoning by a homogeneity test. Results showed that China can be divided into 33–35 extreme precipitation zones. Our map exhibits better homogeneity than the conventional climate map and other methods reported in the literature and better characterizes the regional distribution characteristics of extreme precipitation. It is noted that long–duration extreme precipitation has a more significant regional distribution consistency than short–duration extreme precipitation. Further, the western and northern regions of China are more prone to sudden, high–intensity extreme precipitation events, whereas the southeastern region is more vulnerable to frequent, high–intensity extreme precipitation events.