Visual Range Trends in the Yangtze River Delta Region of China 1981-2005

摘要

Visual range (VR) data from 1981 to 2005 were examined for 20 meteorological monitoring sites in the Yangtze River Delta Region of China. Cumulative percentile analysis was used to construct VR trend. The 25-yr average domain-average 50 VR was approximately 21.9 ±1.9 km. Domain-average 50 VR decreased from 1981 to 2005 with a trend of –2.41 km/decade. The worst 20 and 50 and best 20 VR and variation rates for the 20 sites were analyzed. The 50 VR of the town, county-level city, and prefecture-level city sites were 24.1, 21.5, and 19.4 km, respectively. The best 20 VR decreased fastest with a rate of –3.5 km/decade. Regional median VR de-creased from the coastal sites to the inland sites. Ridit analysis and cumulative percentile were adopted to study the VR variation properties between economically developed areas (e.g., Nanjing and Hangzhou) and remote areas (e.g., Lvsi). The two analyses show that VR decreased in Nanjing and Hangzhou but remained constant in Lvsi from 1981 to 2005.