Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China

Accurate and reliable drought monitoring is of primary importance for drought mitigation and reduction of social-ecological vulnerability. The aim of the paper was to propose a multiscale composited drought index (CDI) which could be widely used for drought monitoring and early warning in China. In...

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Main Authors: Meixiu Yu, Xiaolong Liu, Li Wei, Qiongfang Li, Jianyun Zhang, Guoqing Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:Advances in Meteorology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7986568
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author Meixiu Yu
Xiaolong Liu
Li Wei
Qiongfang Li
Jianyun Zhang
Guoqing Wang
author_facet Meixiu Yu
Xiaolong Liu
Li Wei
Qiongfang Li
Jianyun Zhang
Guoqing Wang
author_sort Meixiu Yu
collection DOAJ
description Accurate and reliable drought monitoring is of primary importance for drought mitigation and reduction of social-ecological vulnerability. The aim of the paper was to propose a multiscale composited drought index (CDI) which could be widely used for drought monitoring and early warning in China. In the study, the upper Huaihe River basin above the Xixian gauge station, which has been hit by severe droughts frequently in recent decades, was selected as the case study site. The newly built short-term/long-term CDI comprehensively considered three natural forms of drought (meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural) by selection of different variables that are related to each drought type. The short-term/long-term CDI was developed using the Principle Component Analysis of related drought components. The thresholds of the short-term/long-term CDI were determined according to frequency statistics of different drought indices. Finally, the feasibility of the two CDI was investigated against the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, and the historical drought records. The results revealed that the short-term/long-term CDI could capture the onset, severity, and persistence of drought events very well with the former being better at identifying the dynamic evolution of drought condition and the latter better at judging the changing trend of drought over a long time period.
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language English
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publisher Wiley
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spelling doaj-art-6d7b6564c2d648929361ff796475988c2025-08-20T02:06:12ZengWileyAdvances in Meteorology1687-93091687-93172016-01-01201610.1155/2016/79865687986568Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, ChinaMeixiu Yu0Xiaolong Liu1Li Wei2Qiongfang Li3Jianyun Zhang4Guoqing Wang5College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaHydrology and Water Resources Department, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210024, ChinaHydrology Bureau of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang 332000, ChinaCollege of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaHydrology and Water Resources Department, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210024, ChinaHydrology and Water Resources Department, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210024, ChinaAccurate and reliable drought monitoring is of primary importance for drought mitigation and reduction of social-ecological vulnerability. The aim of the paper was to propose a multiscale composited drought index (CDI) which could be widely used for drought monitoring and early warning in China. In the study, the upper Huaihe River basin above the Xixian gauge station, which has been hit by severe droughts frequently in recent decades, was selected as the case study site. The newly built short-term/long-term CDI comprehensively considered three natural forms of drought (meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural) by selection of different variables that are related to each drought type. The short-term/long-term CDI was developed using the Principle Component Analysis of related drought components. The thresholds of the short-term/long-term CDI were determined according to frequency statistics of different drought indices. Finally, the feasibility of the two CDI was investigated against the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, and the historical drought records. The results revealed that the short-term/long-term CDI could capture the onset, severity, and persistence of drought events very well with the former being better at identifying the dynamic evolution of drought condition and the latter better at judging the changing trend of drought over a long time period.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7986568
spellingShingle Meixiu Yu
Xiaolong Liu
Li Wei
Qiongfang Li
Jianyun Zhang
Guoqing Wang
Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
Advances in Meteorology
title Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
title_full Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
title_fullStr Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
title_full_unstemmed Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
title_short Drought Assessment by a Short-/Long-Term Composited Drought Index in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China
title_sort drought assessment by a short long term composited drought index in the upper huaihe river basin china
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7986568
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AT liwei droughtassessmentbyashortlongtermcompositeddroughtindexintheupperhuaiheriverbasinchina
AT qiongfangli droughtassessmentbyashortlongtermcompositeddroughtindexintheupperhuaiheriverbasinchina
AT jianyunzhang droughtassessmentbyashortlongtermcompositeddroughtindexintheupperhuaiheriverbasinchina
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