title: Visual range trends in the Yangtze River Delta Region of China, 1981-2005.
abstract: 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 decreased 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.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate East Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Gensuo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Renjian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Huizheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Che
authors.forename: Congbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Tijian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Meigen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D045483:Rivers