Changes in the Regime of Erosive Precipitation on the European Part of Russia for the Period 1966–2020

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the spatial-temporal features of the trends in the frequency and amount of erosion-hazardous precipitation in the European part of Russia (EPR) for the period 1966–2020, as a reflection of the influence of climatic changes on surface runoff from the cultivated slopes during the warm season. One hundred and fifty-nine EPR weather stations were selected for analysis based on the length of the time series and the amount of missing data. Several characteristics of erosion-hazardous precipitation were considered: the number of days with a daily precipitation of more than 12.7 mm, the number of days with a daily precipitation of 12.7 to 40 mm, the number of days with a daily precipitation of more than 40 mm, the maximum one-day precipitation. In general, it can be stated that even within the southern taiga, mixed forests, and forest-steppe ecoregion (broad-leaved forests), within which a positive increase in the frequency of erosion-hazardous precipitation was detected, there was no significant increase in the rate of washout and linear washout, which is primarily due to a more significant reduction of slope runoff and soil washout during spring snowmelt. Precipitation, the daily amount of which is more than 40 mm, as well as the maximum daily amount of precipitation, show an upward trend in the western contact zone of mixed forests and forest-steppe, on the Black Sea coast, as well as in the northern foothills of the Caucasus, where their contribution to erosion processes is likely to increase against the decrease in the number of days with precipitation of a 12.7–40 mm daily amount.