TITLE:
Spatiotemporal Distribution of Precipitation Recycling across the Arid Regions of Asia and Africa
AUTHORS:
Jiamin Li, Ruirui Si
KEYWORDS:
Evaporation, Precipitation Recycling, Arid Regions
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.6 No.9,
September
28,
2018
ABSTRACT: The degree of water vapour recycling in terrestrial precipitation is still a debatable
topic, particularly in arid regions. Here, the spatiotemporal evolution
of evaporation, calculated via the water balance method [1], and the precipitation
recycling ratio, calculated using a water recycling model [2], are investigated
across Asia and Africa for the 1984-2013 time period. The results show
that the precipitation recycling ratio in North Africa and China-Mongolia is
stronger in summer but weaker in winter. However, it is stronger in winter
and spring in West Asia but weaker in summer. Evaporation accounts for a
small proportion of the precipitation uptake in arid regions, with external
water vapour transportation exerting the primary influence on precipitation
recycling. Increasing global temperatures and evaporation potentials over the
past 30 years have driven the actual evaporation and precipitation recycling
ratio increases in North Africa and West Asia and corresponding decreases in
China-Mongolia.