中国科学院水利部水土保持研究所机构知识库

The serious soil erosion problems and decreased runoff of the Loess Plateau may aggravate
the shortage of its local water resources. Understanding the spatiotemporal influences on runoff
changes is important for water resource management. Here, we study this in the largest tributary of
the Yellow River, theWeihe River Basin. Data from four hydrological stations (Lin Jia Cun (LJC), Xian
Yang (XY), Lin Tong (LT), and Hua Xian (HX)) and 10 meteorological stations from 1961–2014 were
used to analyze changes in annual runoff. The Mann–Kendall test and Pettitt abrupt change point
test diagnosed variations in runoff in the Weihe River basin; the time periods before and after abrupt
change points are the base period (period I) and change period (period II), respectively. Within the
Budyko framework, the catchment properties (! in Fu’s equation) represent land surface changes;
climate variability comprises precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (ET0). All the stations
showed a reduction in annual runoff during the recording period, of which 22.66% to 50.42% was
accounted for by land surface change and 1.97% to 53.32% by climate variability. In the Weihe River
basin, land surface changes drive runoff variation in LT and climate variability drives it in LJC, XY,
and HX. The contribution of land surface changes to runoff reduction in period I was less than that in
period II, indicating that changes in human activity further decreased runoff. Therefore, this study
offers a scientific basis for understanding runoff trends and driving forces, providing an important
reference for social development, ecological construction, and water resource management.