干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The effects of irrigation development on observed near-surface atmospheric moisture changes remain unclear in arid Xinjiang. In this study, cultivated land fractions (CFs) within a 4-km radius of 90 meteorological stations over Xinjiang, which are inferred from the 2000 land use map, are used as a quantitative indicator of irrigation intensity. Trends of observed water vapor pressure and relative humidity during the growing season (May to September) from 1959 to 2006 are significantly positively correlated with CFs of the meteorological stations. Stations with larger CFs experience a more rapid increase in near-surface atmospheric moisture than stations with small CFs. Results indicate that growing season near-surface atmospheric moisture wetting is enhanced by irrigation development for stations with high levels of cultivated land uses. The land use around stations should be considered when analyzing the observed near-surface atmospheric moisture changes in Xinjiang.