Abstract: The change of precipitation in Hunan Province since recent 46 years was analyzed by using linear regression, abrupt change analysis and wavelet analysis. The results showed that the annual precipitation increased at a climatic tendency of 21.8 mm/10a. However, the 11-year running mean curve showed that it will decrease in the future. Precipitations in spring and autumn were decreasing in most of the areas, while summer and winter precipitations both had increasing trends. There existed a wetter trend in summer and winter in Hunan Province in the last 46 years. The abrupt change occurred in summer and in winter during the early 1990s. Generally, both annual precipitation and seasonal precipitation presented four kinds of periodic change.

Key words: Hunan Province, precipitation change, abrupt change analysis, wavelet analysis