Exploring the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Winter Rape on the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River Valley Using Time-Series MODIS Data

Rapeseed is an important oil product in China. China’s current soybean trade issues with major soybean producing countries have caused a large decline in soybean import since 2017. This may bring the increasing needs of rapeseed import, which would have an impact on domestic production. However, our knowledge on the effects of international rapeseed trade on domestic production remains unknown. It is thus important to understand the pattern of rapeseed in China under this scenario, as it may provide necessary information for all relevant stakeholders. With this goal, this study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of winter rape in China’s major winter rape production region, the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Valley (MYR), during 2003–2015 using time-series Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. A decision tree according to the difference in enhanced vegetation index (EVI) profiles of land-cover types was built to extract winter rape. The results show that there is an essential decrease in both the number and density of winter rape patches under the opening global rapeseed market. There are significant hotspots of winter rape gain and loss, within which the loss dominated the trend. The significant cost advantage of rapeseed in the international market may largely reduce the domestic cultivation in China through telecoupling effects. Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of winter rape on the MYR has significant economic and policy implications and can provide great supports for the agricultural production, policy-making, and oil products trade in the international market.

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The Monsoon Rainband over China and Relationships with the Eurasian Circulation

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/1520-0442-12.1.115 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 115-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Arthur N. Samel ◽

Wei-Chyung Wang ◽

Xin-Zhong Liang

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

South China ◽

Yangtze River ◽

North China ◽

Yangtze River Valley ◽

River Valley ◽

Subtropical High ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Total Rainfall ◽

Siberian High

Abstract Yearly variations in the observed initial and final dates of heavy, persistent monsoon rainband precipitation across China are quantified. The development of a semiobjective analysis that identifies these values also makes it possible to calculate annual rainband duration and total rainfall. Relationships between total rainband precipitation and the Eurasian circulation are then determined. This research is designed such that observed rainband characteristics can be used in future investigations to evaluate GCM simulations. Normalized daily precipitation time series are analyzed between 1951 and 1990 for 85 observation stations to develop criteria that describe general rainband characteristics throughout China. Rainfall is defined to be “heavy” if the daily value at a given location is greater than 1.5% of the annual mean total. Heavy precipitation is then shown to be “persistent” and is thus identified with the rainband when the 1.5% threshold is exceeded at least 6 times in a 25-day period. Finally, rainband initial (final) dates are defined to immediately follow (precede) a minimum period of 5 consecutive days with no measurable precipitation. A semiobjective analysis based on the above definitions and rainband climatology is then applied to the time series to determine annual initial and final dates. Analysis application produces results that closely correspond to the systematic pattern observed across China, where the rainband arrives in the south during May, advances to the Yangtze River valley in June, and then to the north in July. Rainband duration (i.e., final − initial + 1) is approximately 30–40 days while total rainfall decreases from south to north. A significant positive correlation is found between total rainfall and duration interannual variability, where increased rainband precipitation corresponds to initial (final) dates that are anomalously early (late). No clear trends are identified except over north China, where both duration and total rainfall decrease substantially after 1967. The Eurasian sea level pressure and 500-hPa height fields are then correlated with total rainfall over south China, the Yangtze River valley, and north China to identify statistically significant relationships. Results indicate that precipitation amount is influenced by the interaction of several circulation features. Total rainfall increases over south China when the surface Siberian high ridges to the south and is overrun by warm moist air aloft. Yangtze River valley precipitation intensifies when westward expansion of the subtropical high along with strengthening of the Siberian high and monsoon low cause moisture advection, upward motion, and the thermal gradient along the Mei-Yu front to increase. North China total rainfall increases in response to intense heating over the landmass, westward ridging of the subtropical high, and greater moisture transport over the region.

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