Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China

Frequent drought events have a profound impact on the natural environment and socio-economics. Therefore, accurate drought monitoring is essential to prevent and minimize drought losses. In this study, we developed an improved soil moisture dataset (Merged-SM) by using Triple Collocation (TC) and Li...

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Main Authors: Aifeng Lv, Xianglei Yang, Wenxiang Zhang, Yan Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Agricultural Water Management
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001155
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author Aifeng Lv
Xianglei Yang
Wenxiang Zhang
Yan Han
author_facet Aifeng Lv
Xianglei Yang
Wenxiang Zhang
Yan Han
author_sort Aifeng Lv
collection DOAJ
description Frequent drought events have a profound impact on the natural environment and socio-economics. Therefore, accurate drought monitoring is essential to prevent and minimize drought losses. In this study, we developed an improved soil moisture dataset (Merged-SM) by using Triple Collocation (TC) and Linear Weight Fusion (LWF) methods to fuse soil moisture data from ERA5-Land, ESA CCI, and MERRA-2. The dataset was validated against in-situ data and applied to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of agricultural droughts across China. Results show that (1) Merged-SM exhibits superior accuracy and spatial coverage in comparison to individual datasets, achieving a higher correlation with in-situ data (R = 0.573) and a reduced unbiased root mean square error (ubRMSE = 0.027–0.047). (2) The Merged-SM accurately identified the onset, duration, and spatial extent of agricultural drought events, showing a significant negative correlation with agricultural disaster area (R = −0.418, P = 0.006). (3) Temporally, agricultural droughts across most regions of China displayed stable or alleviating trends, with particularly notable relief observed in Region VI. Spatially, 58.25 % of China's territory experienced a decrease in drought intensity, especially in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, North China Plain, and southern regions, while certain areas in northern and southwestern China recorded an intensification of drought conditions. (4) The correlation between meteorological drought and agricultural drought was found to be stronger during the summer (R = 0.68) and autumn (R = 0.63) compared to winter and spring. The propagation time from meteorological drought to agricultural drought varied seasonally, being shortest in summer (2.54 months) and longest in winter (6.54 months). These findings highlight the potential of the Merged-SM dataset for improving agricultural drought monitoring and provide critical insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics and propagation mechanisms of droughts in China.
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spelling doaj-art-640f482a3a7e4a8a897a86ea640350a52025-08-20T01:57:52ZengElsevierAgricultural Water Management1873-22832025-04-0131110940110.1016/j.agwat.2025.109401Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in ChinaAifeng Lv0Xianglei Yang1Wenxiang Zhang2Yan Han3Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Plateau Geographic Processes and Environment Change of Yunnan Province, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, ChinaKey Laboratory of Plateau Geographic Processes and Environment Change of Yunnan Province, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China; Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Plateau Geographic Processes and Environment Change of Yunnan Province, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China.Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.Frequent drought events have a profound impact on the natural environment and socio-economics. Therefore, accurate drought monitoring is essential to prevent and minimize drought losses. In this study, we developed an improved soil moisture dataset (Merged-SM) by using Triple Collocation (TC) and Linear Weight Fusion (LWF) methods to fuse soil moisture data from ERA5-Land, ESA CCI, and MERRA-2. The dataset was validated against in-situ data and applied to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of agricultural droughts across China. Results show that (1) Merged-SM exhibits superior accuracy and spatial coverage in comparison to individual datasets, achieving a higher correlation with in-situ data (R = 0.573) and a reduced unbiased root mean square error (ubRMSE = 0.027–0.047). (2) The Merged-SM accurately identified the onset, duration, and spatial extent of agricultural drought events, showing a significant negative correlation with agricultural disaster area (R = −0.418, P = 0.006). (3) Temporally, agricultural droughts across most regions of China displayed stable or alleviating trends, with particularly notable relief observed in Region VI. Spatially, 58.25 % of China's territory experienced a decrease in drought intensity, especially in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, North China Plain, and southern regions, while certain areas in northern and southwestern China recorded an intensification of drought conditions. (4) The correlation between meteorological drought and agricultural drought was found to be stronger during the summer (R = 0.68) and autumn (R = 0.63) compared to winter and spring. The propagation time from meteorological drought to agricultural drought varied seasonally, being shortest in summer (2.54 months) and longest in winter (6.54 months). These findings highlight the potential of the Merged-SM dataset for improving agricultural drought monitoring and provide critical insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics and propagation mechanisms of droughts in China.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001155Data fusionTriple collocationSoil moistureSpatiotemporal analysisDrought monitoring
spellingShingle Aifeng Lv
Xianglei Yang
Wenxiang Zhang
Yan Han
Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
Agricultural Water Management
Data fusion
Triple collocation
Soil moisture
Spatiotemporal analysis
Drought monitoring
title Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
title_full Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
title_fullStr Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
title_full_unstemmed Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
title_short Integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in China
title_sort integrated soil moisture fusion for enhanced agricultural drought monitoring in china
topic Data fusion
Triple collocation
Soil moisture
Spatiotemporal analysis
Drought monitoring
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001155
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