Abstract: The trend of precipitation has always been a hotspot of global climate change research.The characteristics of precipitation in growing season (from May to September) in Qinghai Province are analyzed via ANUSPLIN interpolation, Mann-Kendall test, and wavelet analysis based on the measured values of precipitation of weather stations from 1969 to 2018. Results demonstrate that: (1) Precipitation from 1969 to 2018 displayed an overall growth trend with a slope rate of 2.12 mm/a and three change cycles, namely 22 a, 8 a and 4 a. Abrupt changes occurred in 1974, 1986, 1997 and 2008, among which 1986 and 2008 witnessed a declining of precipitation while 1974 and 1997 an increment. It is expected that a transition of increasing precipitation will happen from 2019 to 2020. (2) In terms of spatial scale, precipitation in the growing season of Qinghai Province also showed an increasing trend. From 1969 to 1986, precipitation rose evidently in the south of Qinghai, while from 1986 to 2008, precipitation augmented intensively in high-altitude areas, and from 2008 to 2018, which is a dry period, the precipitation underwent reductions.

Key words: precipitation, temporal and spatial changes, trend analysis, wavelet analysis, ANUSPLIN interpolation, growing season, Qinghai