Abstract: Climate change is one of the main driving forces of the sandy desertification. In this study, we combined the climate trend rate, Mann-Kendall trend analysis, Slide t test, and Kriging spatial interpolation methods to explore the temporal and spatial variation of climate factors which influence sandy desertification in Northern Shanxi Province in 1980-2014. The results showed that: (1) The temperature in the area gradually increased in general. In spring, the increasing rate of temperature was more intensive. The annual mean temperature in the study area increased from 6.37℃ in 1980 to 8.01℃ in 2014. The spatial pattern indicated that the temperature increase in southern area was higher than in the northern area. The Mann-Kendall test of temperature showed that the warming mutation year was in 1990. (2) The seasonal precipitation presented a rising trend, especially in autumn. The annual mean precipitation in the area increased gradually from 357.83 mm in 1980 to 403.82 mm in 2014, with a positive tendency. The precipitation time series mutation test showed that there weren't significant mutation feature, and the distribution of precipitation increased gradually from northeast to southwest. (3) The wind speed decreased gradually from 3.25m·5s^-1 in 1980 to 2.48 m·5s^-1 in 2014, and with a significant decreasing trend in spring. The distribution of wind speed is lower in northwest and higher in southeast. The results could reveal the basic characteristics of the climate change in Northern Shanxi Province during the past 35 years, and provide scientific foundation for the desertification control in this area.

Key words: aeolian activity, climate change, sandy desertification, Mann-Kendall trend analysis