Impact of dam construction on precipitation: a regional perspective
Xiaolei Zhu A , Ziyi Xu A , Zhixin Liu
A * , Mingzhe Liu B * , Zhengtong Yin C , Lirong Yin D and Wenfeng Zheng E *
A School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing 312000, PR China.
B School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Wenzhou University of Technology, Wenzhou 325000, PR China.
C College of Resource and Environment Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, PR China.
D Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
E School of Automation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China.
Handling Editor: Wan Zhanhong
Marine and Freshwater Research 74(10) 877-890 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22135
Submitted: 19 July 2022 Accepted: 31 October 2022 Published: 7 December 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: Numerous dams have been built in China to develop hydropower, a sustainable and clean energy source. In recent years, the impact of dam construction on the regional climate has gradually attracted the attention of researchers.
Aims: This study has evaluated the impact of large-scale dam construction on regional precipitation.
Methods: This paper used the precipitation data of more than 2400 national stations of the China National Meteorological Information Center from 1990 to 2012. The regional precipitation data before and after the construction of the Xiaolangdi Dam and the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River were analysed using geostatistical tools. Wavelet transform and Yamamoto signal-to-noise ratio analysis were further adopted.
Key results: Analysis of the variation points of precipitation characteristics confirmed the correlation between dam construction and regional precipitation; the precipitation values in the two dam study areas had an increasing trend after the completion of the dams, and the fitting trend line showed an obvious increasing trend.
Conclusions: According to the analysis of precipitation variation points, it can be concluded that the establishment of the dam affected the precipitation in the area of ∼200 km upstream and increased the precipitation value in this area. The study showed that dam construction has a strong correlation with regional precipitation.
Implications: It is speculated that the construction of super dams will have a greater impact on precipitation.
Keywords: correlation analysis, geostatistical analysis, large-scale dam, precipitation change, regional climate, regional precipitation, wavelet transform, Yamamoto signal-to-noise ratio analysis.
References
Argoul, F, Arnéodo, A, Grasseau, G, Gagne, Y, Hopfinger, EJ, and Frisch, U (1989). Wavelet analysis of turbulence reveals the multifractal nature of the Richardson cascade. Nature 338, 51–53.| Wavelet analysis of turbulence reveals the multifractal nature of the Richardson cascade.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Benesty J, Chen J, Huang Y, Cohen I (2009) Pearson correlation coefficient. In ‘Springer Topics in Signal Processing, Vol. 2. Noise reduction in speech processing’. (Eds J Benesty, W Kellermann) pp. 37–40. (Springer) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00296-0_5
Boulange, J, Hanasaki, N, Yamazaki, D, and Pokhrel, Y (2021). Role of dams in reducing global flood exposure under climate change. Nature Communications 12, 417.
| Role of dams in reducing global flood exposure under climate change.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cao, Z, Zhang, H, Liu, Y, Liu, S, Feng, L, Yin, L, and Zheng, W (2022a). Spatial distribution analysis of seismic activity based on GMI, LMI, and LISA in China. Open Geosciences 14, 89–97.
| Spatial distribution analysis of seismic activity based on GMI, LMI, and LISA in China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cao, Z, Wang, Y, Zhang, H, Liu, Y, Liu, S, Yin, L, and Zheng, W (2022b). Study on spatio-temporal characteristics of earthquakes in southwest China based on z-value. Open Geosciences 14, 185–207.
| Study on spatio-temporal characteristics of earthquakes in southwest China based on z-value.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Choi, J-H, Jun, C, Liu, P, Kim, J-S, and Moon, Y-I (2020). Resolving emerging issues with aging dams under climate change projections. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 146, 04020025.
| Resolving emerging issues with aging dams under climate change projections.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Condé, RC, Martinez, J-M, Pessotto, MA, Villar, R, Cochonneau, G, Henry, R, Lopes, W, and Nogueira, M (2019). Indirect assessment of sedimentation in hydropower dams using MODIS remote sensing images. Remote Sensing 11, 314.
| Indirect assessment of sedimentation in hydropower dams using MODIS remote sensing images.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Foumelis, M (2017). Impact of dam failure-induced flood on road network using combined remote sensing and geospatial approach. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 11, 016004.
| Impact of dam failure-induced flood on road network using combined remote sensing and geospatial approach.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Han, Z, Jia, K, Yang, F, and Sun, B (2018). Analysis on multi time scale yearly precipitation of Hulun Lake watershed based on wavelet Morlet analysis. Research of Soil and Water Conservation 25, 160–166.
Kleijnen, JPC (2009). Kriging metamodeling in simulation: a review. European Journal of Operational Research 192, 707–716.
| Kriging metamodeling in simulation: a review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nakamura, M, Kawakatsu, Y, Hirose, C, Imamura, T, Ishii, N, Abe, T, Yamazaki, A, Yamada, M, Ogohara, K, Uemizu, K, Fukuhara, T, Ohtsuki, S, Satoh, T, Suzuki, M, Ueno, M, Nakatsuka, J, Iwagami, N, Taguchi, M, Watanabe, S, Takahashi, Y, Hashimoto, GL, and Yamamoto, H (2014). Return to Venus of the Japanese Venus climate orbiter AKATSUKI. Acta Astronautica 93, 384–389.
| Return to Venus of the Japanese Venus climate orbiter AKATSUKI.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Noori, AM, Pradhan, B, and Ajaj, QM (2019). Dam site suitability assessment at the Greater Zab River in northern Iraq using remote sensing data and GIS. Journal of Hydrology 574, 964–979.
| Dam site suitability assessment at the Greater Zab River in northern Iraq using remote sensing data and GIS.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Okamoto, S, Hayashi, M, Nakajima, M, Kainuma, Y, and Shiozawa, K (1990). A factor analysis–multiple regression model for source apportionment of suspended particulate matter. Atmospheric Environment – A. General Topics 24, 2089–2097.
| A factor analysis–multiple regression model for source apportionment of suspended particulate matter.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pallant J (2002) ‘SPSS Survival Manual: a step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS’, 7th edn. (Routledge) https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003117452
Rathinasamy, M, Agarwal, A, Sivakumar, B, Marwan, N, and Kurths, J (2019). Wavelet analysis of precipitation extremes over India and teleconnections to climate indices. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 33, 2053–2069.
| Wavelet analysis of precipitation extremes over India and teleconnections to climate indices.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sezen, C, and Partal, T (2020). Wavelet combined innovative trend analysis for precipitation data in the Euphrates–Tigris basin, Turkey. Hydrological Sciences Journal 65, 1909–1927.
| Wavelet combined innovative trend analysis for precipitation data in the Euphrates–Tigris basin, Turkey.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wu, J, Gao, X, Giorgi, F, Chen, Z, and Yu, D (2012). Climate effects of the Three Gorges Reservoir as simulated by a high resolution double nested regional climate model. Quaternary International 282, 27–36.
| Climate effects of the Three Gorges Reservoir as simulated by a high resolution double nested regional climate model.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Xu, K, Brown, C, Kwon, H-H, Lall, U, Zhang, J, Hayashi, S, and Chen, Z (2007). Climate teleconnections to Yangtze river seasonal streamflow at the Three Gorges Dam, China. International Journal of Climatology 27, 771–780.
| Climate teleconnections to Yangtze river seasonal streamflow at the Three Gorges Dam, China.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Xu, Y, Gao, X, Shen, Y, Xu, C, Shi, Y, and Giorgi, F (2009). A daily temperature dataset over China and its application in validating a RCM simulation. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences 26, 763–772.
| A daily temperature dataset over China and its application in validating a RCM simulation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Xu, Z, Liu, Z, Tian, J, Liu, Y, Pan, H, Liu, S, Yang, B, Yin, L, and Zheng, W (2022). Classification of urban pollution levels based on clustering and spatial statistics. Atmosphere 13, 494.
| Classification of urban pollution levels based on clustering and spatial statistics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zaidel, PA, Roy, AH, Houle, KM, Lambert, B, Letcher, BH, Nislow, KH, and Smith, C (2021). Impacts of small dams on stream temperature. Ecological Indicators 120, 106878.
| Impacts of small dams on stream temperature.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zhang, Z, Liu, G, Chen, C, Tian, J, Liu, S, Yin, L, and Zheng, W (2022). Spatio-temporal analysis of East Asian seismic zones based on multifractal theory. Open Geosciences 14, 316–330.
| Spatio-temporal analysis of East Asian seismic zones based on multifractal theory.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zhao, Y, Liu, S, and Shi, H (2021). Impacts of dams and reservoirs on local climate change: a global perspective. Environmental Research Letters 16, 104043.
| Impacts of dams and reservoirs on local climate change: a global perspective.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zhou, Y, Gao, Y, and Duan, X (2005). Basic climate characteristics of summer precipitation in the Three Gorges reservoir area. Journal of Southwest Agricultural University (Natural Science Edition) 27, 269–272.
