Recent changes in pan-evaporation dynamics in China

Pan-evaporation (E-pan) as the indicator of atmospheric evaporative demand has decreased worldwide with climate change in the last decades, which is called Pan Evaporation Paradox. This study investigates the recent changes in E-pan dynamics in China using the observed E-pan records for the period 1960-2007. The records show that E-pan decreased in China from 1960 to 1991 by -5.4 mm yr(-2). The attribution results show that the significant decreases (P < 0.001) in wind speed and solar radiation offset the effect of increasing air temperature and led to the decrease in E-pan. However, the observed E-pan has increased since 1992 by 7.9 mm yr(-2). From 1992 to 2007, the amplitude of increase in air temperature rose seriously, while the amplitude of decrease in wind speed declined and solar radiation even increased insignificantly (P > 0.1). The results show that increasing air temperature dominated the change in E-pan, which offset the effect of wind speed and led to the increase in E-pan. Citation: Liu, X., Y. Luo, D. Zhang, M. Zhang, and C. Liu (2011), Recent changes in pan-evaporation dynamics in China, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L13404, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047929.