1.School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering,Lanzhou University of Technology,Lanzhou 730050,China
2.Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands,Northwest Institute;of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
3.China Institute of;Water Resources and Hydropower Research,Beijing 100038,China
4.Research Center of Flood Control and;Drought Relief Engineering Technology,Ministry of Water Resources,Beijing 100038,China
5.State Key;Laboratory of Water Engineering Ecology and Environment in Arid Area,Xi′an University of Technology,Xi′an 710048,China
6.Wuwei Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Center,Wuwei,Gansu 733099,China
Objective This study aims to clarify the temporal evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of runoff time series in the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River during flood and non-flood seasons, providing a scientific basis for water resources management under climate change and underlying surface changes.Methods Focusing on the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, this study employed innovative trend analysis, the Pettitt abrupt change test, wavelet coherence analysis, and the Budyko hypothesis to quantitatively examine runoff variation characteristics during the flood and non-flood seasons and to assess the relative contributions of climate change and underlying surface change. Results (1) During the flood season, runoff in both the upper and middle reaches increased significantly (p<0.05). During the non-flood season, runoff increased in the upper reach but decreased significantly in the middle reach. The abrupt change analysis showed that change-point years during the flood season all occurred after 2000 (2005 in the upper reach and 2002 in the middle reach), whereas change-point years in the non-flood season were more dispersed (1998 in the upper reach and 1980 in the middle reach), exhibiting clear spatial differences. (2) Under the background of inland arid regions, underlying surface factors exerted a significant regulatory effect on runoff. Sensitivity analysis indicated that runoff was most sensitive to underlying surface changes, followed by precipitation, while the sensitivity to potential evapotranspiration (PET) was relatively weak. (3) Contribution analysis further showed that runoff variations during the study period were mainly driven by the combined effects of precipitation and underlying surface changes. In the upper reach, precipitation played a more prominent role (76% during the flood season and 60% during the non-flood season), whereas underlying surface changes contributed more in the middle reach (71% during the non-flood season). In terms of seasonal differences, precipitation is the primary factor influencing runoff changes during the flood season (76% in the upper reach and 78% in the middle reach), while the influence of underlying surface conditions increases during the non-flood season (36% in the upper reach and 71% in the middle reach). Conclusion Runoff in the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin exhibits an overall increasing trend, primarily driven by climate change in the upper reaches. In the middle reaches, it increases during the flood season due to climate change but decreases during the non-flood season mainly under the influence of underlying surface changes.
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