Chen et al. (2026) Spatiotemporal variations of rainfall interception before and after implementation of Grain for Green Program in the Loess Plateau

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-03
• Authors: Junyan Chen, Guozheng Liu, Jing Wu, Keyu Zhao, Tiegang LIU
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134893

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
• Lanzhou Central Meteorological Observatory, Lanzhou, China

Short Summary

This study quantified the spatiotemporal variations of rainfall interception (RI) in the Loess Plateau before and after the Grain for Green Program (GFGP), revealing a significant increase in RI primarily driven by vegetation restoration (94.3%) rather than climate change.

Objective

• To assess the differences in rainfall interception (RI) across the Loess Plateau between the GFGP period (2000–2015) and the pre-GFGP period (1984–1999), and to quantify the contributions of climate change and vegetation restoration as drivers of this change through scenario simulation.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Loess Plateau (LP)
• Temporal Scale: 32 years (1984–2015), divided into pre-GFGP (1984–1999) and GFGP (2000–2015) periods.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Gash sparse model
• Data sources: 3-hour MSWEP precipitation data

Main Results

• Mean annual rainfall interception (RI) in the Loess Plateau increased from 2.40 × 10^10 m^3 (38.42 mm) during 1984–1999 to 2.84 × 10^10 m^3 (45.56 mm) during 2000–2015.
• This represents an increase of 4.45 × 10^9 m^3 (7.14 mm).
• Vegetation restoration dominated this increase, contributing 94.3%, while climate contributions were -1.5%.
• RI trends shifted from an insignificant decline (−1.98 × 10^8 m^3 per year, p = 0.62) in the pre-GFGP period to a significant increase (3.91 × 10^8 m^3 per year, p = 0.02) in the GFGP period.

Contributions

• Provides a quantitative assessment of rainfall interception changes in response to the large-scale Grain for Green Program and climate variability in the Loess Plateau, addressing a previously insufficiently quantified aspect.
• Clearly attributes the observed increase in rainfall interception primarily to vegetation restoration, distinguishing its impact from climate change.
• Offers policy recommendations for balancing ecological restoration with water resource management, advocating for threshold-based strategies.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Chen2026Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Chen, Junyan and Liu, Guozheng and Wu, Jing and Zhao, Keyu and LIU, Tiegang},
  title = {Spatiotemporal variations of rainfall interception before and after implementation of Grain for Green Program in the Loess Plateau},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134893},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134893}
}