Study on Crop Meteorological Index and Change Threshold in

Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigated Area

Feng Feng

1,2 a

, Mengzhen Wang

, Yuehua Feng

, Xiaoying Jin

1,2 d

, Ting

Zhao

1,2 e

and Nan Jiang

1,2 f

Yellow River Conservancy Technical Institute, Kaifeng, 475004, China

Henan Engineering Technology Center for Water Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Middle and Lower

Reaches of Yellow River, Kaifeng, 475004, China

Eastern Henan Water Conservancy Administration Bureau, Sanyizhai Branch Office, Kaifeng, 475300, China

Eastern Henan Water Conservancy Administration Bureau, Kaifeng, 475002, China

Keywords: Yellow River Irrigation Area, Meteorological Factor, Change Index, Change Threshold, Sanyizhai Irrigation

Area.

Abstract: Based on 756 sets of ten-day meteorological data from 1999 to 2019 in Sanyizhai Irrigation Area, the

dynamic threshold of irrigation water demand was studied in order to determine the irrigation water demand

in the Yellow River Irrigation Area under the condition of meteorological change. According to the path

analysis of crop water requirement of winter wheat, cotton and summer corn, the most significant

meteorological factors were selected to construct the meteorological indexes of winter wheat, cotton and

summer corn, respectively, and four variation rates of slight, weak, strong and extremely strong were

determined. Analysis the growth period of winter wheat all 486 groups of observed meteorological data,

strong changes occur most frequently, middle and late time is January, strong change is 2 months early and

in late December, in late march to late may meteorological index change is given priority to with slight

change and the weak, the weak change based on the analysis of time frequency of the highest (40.79%),

strong change frequency of the lowest 13.87%.The maximum frequency of extreme changes in summer

corn was in the middle of July, late July and early August, with the highest frequency of extreme changes

accounting for 28.57% and the lowest frequency of strong changes accounting for 14.70%.The maximum

frequency of strong changes in cotton was in the middle of July, late July and early August, with the highest

frequency of small changes accounting for 34.01% and the lowest frequency of strong changes accounting

for 15.65%.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the major national strategy of Ecological

protection and High-quality Development of the

Yellow River Basin, it is clearly pointed out that the

economical and intensive utilization of water

resources should be promoted (Xinhua, 2019).

Henan province is a major agricultural and grain

production province in China. In 2020, the sown

area of grain in Henan province is 10 738 794 hm2,

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1192-1775

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2762-5417

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9145-7126

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8586-6596

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5952-8913

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-0232

of which winter wheat and summer corn account for

more than 85% (Central Committee of the

Communist Party of China and State Council, 2018).

However, Henan Province is also one of the regions

with severe water shortage in China. The Yellow

River Irrigation area mainly uses agricultural water,

and in the face of complex and changeable

meteorological conditions, an important premise for

water conservation and intensive utilization is to

predict the water demand of the irrigated area

according to meteorological changes, so as to carry

out accurate water scheduling and optimal allocation

(CUI 1994).

At present, a lot of research achievements have

been made in terms of water requirement for crop

irrigation (CAI 2008, WEI 2014, WU 2008).

However, for the main crops in the irrigated areas of

The Yellow River in Henan Province, the research

Feng, F., Wang, M., Feng, Y., Jin, X., Zhao, T. and Jiang, N.

Study on Crop Meteorological Index and Change Threshold in Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigated Area.

DOI: 10.5220/0011179100003443

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics (ICBEB 2022), pages 41-47

ISBN: 978-989-758-595-1

on the threshold of irrigation water demand from the

perspective of meteorological factors is still scarce.

This will bring adverse effects on the promotion and

implementation of the strictest water resources

management system and the scientific planning of

the development of the irrigation area. Based on the

meteorological data of Huibei Water Conservancy

Experimental Station from 1999 to 2019, the

dynamic threshold of crop water demand and

irrigation water demand of winter wheat, summer

corn and cotton in the whole growth period of

Sanyizhai Irrigated Area was predicted from the

perspective of the change range of meteorological

index. Thus the data foundation and technical

support are provided for the conservation and

intensive utilization of water resources and high-

quality development in Yellow River irrigation area.

2 REGIONAL OVERVIEW AND

DATA SOURCES

The water intake of Yellow River Sanyizhai

Irrigation Area in Henan Province is located in

Lankao County, Kaifeng City. The total land area of

the irrigation area is 4 344.2 km2, and the total

arable land area is 270,000 hm2, as shown in Fig.1

(FENG 2019). At present, the water diversion

capacity of the irrigation area is about 150 m3/s, and

the effective irrigation areas are Kaifeng County,

Lankao County and Qi County in Kaifeng City, and

Minquan County, Ningling County, Suiyang

District, Liangyuan District, Sui County and

Yucheng County in Shangqiu City, involving a total

of 9 counties (districts) in the two regions (FENG

2017). Meteorological data adopted in this study

were all from Huibei science Experimental Station

of Eastern Henan Water Conservancy Engineering

Administration in Henan Province. The geographical

location of this station was 114º31 'E and 34º46' N,

representing the Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigation

Area in Kaifeng City, Henan Province. The daily

and daily surface meteorological observation data of

this station from 1999 to 2019 were selected.

Including precipitation (X1), water surface

evaporation (X2), average temperature (X3),

maximum temperature (X4), minimum temperature

(X5), air relative humidity (X6), sunshine duration

(X7), maximum sunshine duration (X8), average

wind speed (X9) and nearly 100,000 data.

Figure 1: Map of Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigation Area.

3 METEOROLOGICAL INDEX

AND CHANGE THRESHOLD

3.1 Winter Wheat Meteorological

Index and Its Change Threshold

According to the previous research results, the

regression equation of winter wheat with 9

meteorological factors can predict crop water

demand more accurately. Based on 756 sets of 10-

day meteorological data from 1999 to 2019, through

path analysis of winter wheat crop water demand in

Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigation Area, it can be

seen that the four meteorological factors with the

greatest influence are: Ten-day average temperature

(X3), ten-day maximum temperature (X4), ten-day

sunshine hours (X7), ten-day average wind speed

(X9). Therefore, the above four factors are selected

as representative factors, and the winter wheat

meteorological index is calculated as follows:

𝐹



0.25∗













  0.25 ∗ 













  0.25 ∗ 













0.25∗













 ∗ 100%

(1)

In the formula:𝐹



, winter wheat

meteorological index in Sanyizhai; X3 ,𝑥̄



are ten-

day average measured temperature, annual average,

℃; X4, 𝑥̄



are ten-day maximum temperature

measured, annual average, ℃; X7,𝑥̄



are measured

value of ten-day sunshine hours, annual average

value, h; X9, 𝑥̄



are ten-day average wind speed

measured annual average m/s.

According to the change multiples of maximum,

minimum and mean values of four meteorological

factors during 1999-2019, four ranges of slight

change, weak change, strong change and strong

change were determined. The threshold range of

slight change was -10% to 10%, weak change was -

30% to 30%, and strong change was -50% to 50%.

The threshold value of the change amplitude

developed by the time process is shown in Fig.2, and

the threshold range of different change amplitude is

shown in Table 1.

ICBEB 2022 - The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics

Table 1: Threshold range of change amplitude of winter wheat meteorological index in Sanyizhai Irrigation Area.

actor

Multiple

of minimum

change

Multiple

of maximum

change

Threshold range of the change amplitude

Small

change

Weak

change

Strong

change

Extreme stron

g change

-0.63 2.28 -10%~10% -30%~30% -50%~50%

50%，>50%

-0.58 1.27 -10%~10% -30%~30% -50%~50%

50%，>50%

-0.83 1.84 -10%~10% -30%~30% -50%~50%

50%，>50%

-0.77 4.94 -10%~10% -30%~30% -50%~50%

50%，>50%

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the threshold value of

change amplitude of winter wheat meteorological index in

Sanyizhai Irrigation Area.

The whole growth period of winter wheat is 23

days from mid-October to late May of the next year.

Based on 756 sets of ten-day meteorological data in

21 years from 1999 to 2019, the winter wheat

meteorological index is calculated by using formula

(1), and the variation range of meteorological index

in each ten-day in 21 years is determined according

to the threshold range in Table 1. Count the

occurrence times of the four variation ranges, as

shown in Fig.3. It can be seen that the most frequent

strong changes of meteorological index occurred in

the first, middle and late January, the most frequent

strong changes occurred in the first ten days of

February and the last half of December, and the

change range of meteorological index from late

March to late May was dominated by slight changes

and weak changes. The frequency of the four

variation ranges of the meteorological index in 483

sets of data is shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the

highest frequency of weak variation is 40.79%, and

the lowest frequency of strong variation is 13.87%.

Figure 3: The frequency of different variation ranges of meteorological index during the whole growth period of winter

wheat in Sanyizhai Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019.

Study on Crop Meteorological Index and Change Threshold in Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigated Area

Figure 4: Percentage of different variation ranges of meteorological index in the whole growth period of winter wheat in

Sanyizhai Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019

3.2 Meteorological Index and Variation

Range of Cotton and Summer Corn

According to the previous research results, through

path analysis of the water demand of cotton and

summer maize crops in Sanyizhai Irrigation Area, it

can be seen that the three most influential

meteorological factors are: ten-day water

evaporation (X2), ten-day air relative humidity (X6),

and the actual maximum sunshine hours per day

(X8). Therefore, the above factors are selected as

representative factors, and the calculation of the

meteorological index of cotton and summer corn is

as follows:

𝐹



 0.33 ∗ 













  0.33 ∗ 













  0.34 ∗ 













 ∗ 100%

(2)

In the formula: 𝐹



,The meteorological change

index of cotton and summer corn; X2, 𝑥̄



are

measured value of water surface evaporation in ten

days, average value over many years, mm; X4,𝑥̄



are

ten-day air relative humidity measured value, annual

average,%; X7, 𝑥̄



are actual measured maximum

hours of sunshine per day, multi-year average, h.

According to the change multiples of the

maximum, minimum and average of the three

meteorological factors during 1999-2019, the change

ranges of four meteorological factors were

determined as slight change, weak change, strong

change and strong change. The threshold range of

the slight change of meteorological index was -10%

to 10%, the weak change was -20% to 20%, and the

strong change was -30% to 30%. The threshold

value of the change amplitude developed by the time

process is shown in Fig.5, and the threshold range of

different change amplitude is shown in Table 2.

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of thresholds of cotton and

summer corn meteorological change index in Sanyizhai

Irrigation Area.

Table 2: Threshold range of change amplitude of meteorological index of cotton and summer maize in Sanyizhai Irrigation

Area.

Factor

Multiple of

minimum

change

Multiple of

maximum

change

Threshold range of the change amplitude

Small change Weak change Strong change

Extreme strong

chan

X3 -0.79 1.66 -10%~10% -20%~20% -30%~30% <-30%, >30%

X4 -0.30 1.30 -10%~10% -20%~20% -30%~30% <-30%, >30%

X7 -0.84 1.84 -10%~10% -20%~20% -30%~30% <-30%, >30%

X9 -0.79 1.66 -10%~10% -20%~20% -30%~30% <-30%, >30%

3.2.1 Calculation of Summer Maize

Eteorological Index

The whole growth period of summer corn is 10 days

from mid-June to mid-September every year. Based

on 756 sets of ten-day meteorological data in 21

years from 1999 to 2019, the meteorological factors

of summer corn are calculated using formula (2),

and the change range of meteorological index of

each ten-day in 21 years is determined according to

ICBEB 2022 - The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics

the threshold range in Table 2. The occurrence times

of the four variation ranges are statistically shown in

Fig.6. It can be seen that the most frequent strong

changes of meteorological index occurred in the

middle and late July and the first ten days of August,

the most frequent strong changes occurred in the

first ten days of July and the last ten days of August,

and the change range of meteorological index in the

middle and late June and the first and middle of

September was dominated by slight changes and

weak changes. The frequency of the four variation

ranges of the meteorological index in 210 sets of

data is shown in Fig.7. It can be seen that the highest

frequency of strong variation takes up 28.57%, and

the lowest frequency of strong variation takes up

14.70%.

Figure 6: The frequency of change of ten-day meteorological index in the whole growth period of summer maize in

Sanyizhai Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019.

Figure 7: Percentage of change of meteorological index during the whole growth period of summer corn in Sanyizhai

Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019.

3.2.2 Calculation of Cotton Meteorological

Index

The whole growth period of cotton is 21 days from

early April to late October every year. Based on 756

sets of ten-day meteorological data in 21 years from

1999 to 2019, the cotton meteorological factor is

calculated by Using formula (2), and the change

range of meteorological index in each ten-day in 21

years is determined according to the threshold range

in Table 2. The occurrence times of the four

variation ranges are statistically shown in Fig.8. It

can be seen that the most frequent occurrence of

strong changes of meteorological index is in the

middle and late July, early August and early

September, and the most frequent occurrence of

strong changes is in the early July, late August and

late October. In other periods, the change range of

meteorological index is dominated by slight changes

and weak changes. The frequency of the four change

ranges of the meteorological index in 441 sets of

data is shown in Fig.9. It can be seen that the highest

frequency of the slight change is 34.01%, the second

frequency of the weak change is 28.34, and the

lowest frequency of the strong change is 15.65%.

Study on Crop Meteorological Index and Change Threshold in Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigated Area

Figure 8: The frequency of change of ten-day meteorological index during the whole growth period of cotton in Sanyizhai

Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019.

Figure 9: Percentage of different variation ranges of meteorological index in the whole growth period of cotton in Sanyizhai

Irrigation Area from 1999 to 2019.

4 CONCLUSIONS

(1) Based on 756 sets of ten-day meteorological data

from 1999 to 2019, the most significant four

meteorological factors were selected to construct the

winter wheat meteorological index according to the

path analysis of the water demand of winter wheat

crops in Yellow River Sanyishai Irrigation area, and

the four ranges of slight, weak, strong and extremely

strong were determined. The slight change refers to

the meteorological index between -10% and 10%.

The weak variation is between -30% and 30%, and

the strong variation is between -50% and 50%.

According to the path analysis of the water demand

of cotton and summer maize crops, the most

significant three meteorological factors were

selected to construct the meteorological index, and

four ranges were determined. The slight change

means that the meteorological index is between -

10% and 10%, the weak change is between -20%

and 20%, and the strong change is between -30%

and 30%.

(2) According to the frequency and time of

occurrence of meteorological indexes of different

variation ranges of winter wheat, it can be seen that

the most frequent occurrences of strong changes

occurred in the first, middle and late January, and

the most frequent occurrences of strong changes

occurred in the first ten days of February and the last

ten days of December. In the whole growth period of

winter wheat, the frequency of weak change was the

highest (40.79%), and the frequency of strong

change was the lowest (13.87%). The period when

the strong change occurred was the non-critical

water demand of winter wheat, so the change range

of irrigation water demand of winter wheat in the

whole growth period was not large. The most

frequent occurrence of strong changes in summer

maize was in mid-July, late July and early August,

and the most frequent occurrence of strong changes

was in early July and late August. The highest

ICBEB 2022 - The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics

frequency of strong variation was 28.57%, and the

lowest frequency of strong variation was 14.70%.

The 10 days of the whole growth period of summer

maize belong to the period when the summer

weather is susceptible to strong or strong changes. In

these periods, special attention should be paid to the

change of irrigation water demand caused by

meteorological changes, and the water diversion and

allocation plan of the irrigated area should be

dynamically adjusted in advance according to the

meteorological forecast. The strongest changes of

cotton meteorological index occurred most

frequently in the middle and late July, early August

and early September, and the strongest changes

occurred most frequently in the early July, late

August and late October. In other periods, the

change ranges of meteorological index were slight

and weak changes. The highest frequency of micro

change was 34.01%, and the lowest frequency of

strong change was 15.65%. The probability of small

and weak changes in the whole growth period of

cotton is high, but the fluctuation of irrigation water

requirement in summer when the weather is prone to

strong changes should also be concerned.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper is supported by the following projects:

National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.

51809110); Science and Technology project of

Henan Province in 2021(No.212102311147); Key

Project of Water Resources Science and Technology

of Henan Province in 2019 (No.GG201938,

No.GG201930); Kaifeng Yellow River Basin

Ecological Protection and High-quality

Development Innovation Special Program in 2020

(No.2019012). This paper is the stage research result

of the above research projects.

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Study on Crop Meteorological Index and Change Threshold in Yellow River Sanyizhai Irrigated Area