Characteristics of Annual and Seasonal Precipitation Change in the Yellow River Basin based on the Innovative Trend Analysis Method

To explore the characteristics of precipitation in the Yellow River Basin, based on 92 meteorological stations, this paper analyzes the trend of annual and seasonal precipitation in the Yellow River Basin from 1960 to 2015 by using an innovative trend analysis（ITA） method, Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s Slope. The results show that precipitation increases from the northwest area to the southeast area. The Yellow River Basin exhibits an overall decreasing trend in annual precipitation with inter-annual precipitation becoming more even. In terms of seasonal precipitation, spring and winter precipitation show increasing trends, while summer and autumn precipitation exhibit decreasing trends in the Yellow River Basin. Furthermore, in spring, the light precipitation has a non-monotonic trend in the Yellow River Basin.The summer light precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin shows a downward trend. The light precipitation in the Yellow River Basin shows a downward trend in autumn, while it exhibits an upward trend in winter. In summer, the heavy precipitation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River shows a downward trend of about 10%, while it shows an upward trend of about 5% in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. By exploring the changing trend of annual and seasonal precipitation of different magnitudes in the Yellow River Basin, this paper can provide a reference for the water resources management and flood and drought disaster prevention in the Yellow River Basin, and then support the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.