Analysis on the Potential Precipitation Resources over East Gansu

The seasonal and interannual variations of the water vapor content and its mean transfer in the atmosphere over East Gansu are calculated and analyzed by using the NCEP/NCAR global reanalysis grid data (2.5°×2.5°Lat./Lon.) for 55 yr (1948-2002). The results show that 1) the water vapor content within the whole layer atmosphere over East Gansu in the latest 55 yr exhibits decreasing trends except that in winter,which shows a notable increasing trend; 2) the annual average water vapor transport flux mainly comes from southeast and southwest, and decreased from southeast to northwest gradually; 3) on the average, the annual water vapor transport ux over East Gansu increases continuously with height in the lower and middle parts of troposphere, and reaches the maximum value at the layer of 500 hPa; 4) in East Gansu,the southeast and southwest boundaries are the main water vapor import boundaries and the northeast and northwest boundaries are the main water vapor export boundaries. The water vapor import and export quantities in summer months reach the maximum values of those in all months, that is, 886.0 and 754.5 mm, respectively; and 5) the annual water vapor import is 1579.5 mm and its export is 997.6 mm, indicating the import of water vapor is more than the export. The net water vapor import over the whole region is 581.9mm. which accounts for 36.8% of the annual total import. The net water vapor import in winter is 88.0 mm, which accounts for 15.1% of the total import. This value in spring increases obviously, which equals 240.7 mm and accounts for 41.4% of the total. The value in summer equals 131.5 mm and accounts for 22.6% of the total. The net water vapor import in autumn is 121.7 mm and accounts for 20.9% of the total import. It implies that there is a fairish potential water vapor resource that has great potential for arti cial precipitation enhancement over East Gansu Province.