Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI

Drought impacts agricultural production and regional sustainable development. Accordingly, timely and accurate drought monitoring is essential for ensuring food security in rain-fed agricultural regions. Alternating drought and flood events frequently occur in the Heilongjiang River Basin, the large...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weihao Zou, Juanle Wang, Congrong Li, Keming Yang, Denis Fetisov, Jiawei Jiang, Meng Liu, Yaping Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/14/2366
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849251875345399808
author Weihao Zou
Juanle Wang
Congrong Li
Keming Yang
Denis Fetisov
Jiawei Jiang
Meng Liu
Yaping Liu
author_facet Weihao Zou
Juanle Wang
Congrong Li
Keming Yang
Denis Fetisov
Jiawei Jiang
Meng Liu
Yaping Liu
author_sort Weihao Zou
collection DOAJ
description Drought impacts agricultural production and regional sustainable development. Accordingly, timely and accurate drought monitoring is essential for ensuring food security in rain-fed agricultural regions. Alternating drought and flood events frequently occur in the Heilongjiang River Basin, the largest grain-producing area in Far East Asia. However, spatiotemporal variability in drought is not well understood, in part owing to the limitations of the traditional Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). In this study, an Improved Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (ITVDI) was developed by incorporating Digital Elevation Model data to correct land surface temperatures and introducing a constraint line method to replace the traditional linear regression for fitting dry–wet boundaries. Based on MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) normalized vegetation index and land surface temperature products, the Heilongjiang River Basin, a cross-border basin between China, Mongolia, and Russia, exhibited pronounced spatiotemporal variability in drought conditions of the growing season from 2001 to 2023. Drought severity demonstrated clear geographical zonation, with a higher intensity in the western region and lower intensity in the eastern region. The Mongolian Plateau and grasslands were identified as drought hotspots. The Far East Asia forest belt was relatively humid, with an overall lower drought risk. The central region exhibited variation in drought characteristics. From the perspective of cross-national differences, the drought severity distribution in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia exhibits marked spatial heterogeneity. In Mongolia, regional drought levels exhibited a notable trend toward homogenization, with a higher proportion of extreme drought than in other areas. The overall drought risk in the Russian part of the basin was relatively low. A trend analysis indicated a general pattern of drought alleviation in western regions and intensification in eastern areas. Most regions showed relatively stable patterns, with few areas exhibiting significant changes, mainly surrounding cities such as Qiqihar, Daqing, Harbin, Changchun, and Amur Oblast. Regions with aggravation accounted for 52.29% of the total study area, while regions showing slight alleviation account for 35.58%. This study provides a scientific basis and data infrastructure for drought monitoring in transboundary watersheds and for ensuring agricultural production security.
format Article
id doaj-art-93cd9b1e1fd6455bae7ca0d33f8fb092
institution Kabale University
issn 2072-4292
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-93cd9b1e1fd6455bae7ca0d33f8fb0922025-08-20T03:56:47ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-07-011714236610.3390/rs17142366Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDIWeihao Zou0Juanle Wang1Congrong Li2Keming Yang3Denis Fetisov4Jiawei Jiang5Meng Liu6Yaping Liu7College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaCollege of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, ChinaInstitute for Complex Analysis of Regional Problems, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, 679016 Birobidzhan, RussiaCollege of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaCollege of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, ChinaDrought impacts agricultural production and regional sustainable development. Accordingly, timely and accurate drought monitoring is essential for ensuring food security in rain-fed agricultural regions. Alternating drought and flood events frequently occur in the Heilongjiang River Basin, the largest grain-producing area in Far East Asia. However, spatiotemporal variability in drought is not well understood, in part owing to the limitations of the traditional Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). In this study, an Improved Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (ITVDI) was developed by incorporating Digital Elevation Model data to correct land surface temperatures and introducing a constraint line method to replace the traditional linear regression for fitting dry–wet boundaries. Based on MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) normalized vegetation index and land surface temperature products, the Heilongjiang River Basin, a cross-border basin between China, Mongolia, and Russia, exhibited pronounced spatiotemporal variability in drought conditions of the growing season from 2001 to 2023. Drought severity demonstrated clear geographical zonation, with a higher intensity in the western region and lower intensity in the eastern region. The Mongolian Plateau and grasslands were identified as drought hotspots. The Far East Asia forest belt was relatively humid, with an overall lower drought risk. The central region exhibited variation in drought characteristics. From the perspective of cross-national differences, the drought severity distribution in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia exhibits marked spatial heterogeneity. In Mongolia, regional drought levels exhibited a notable trend toward homogenization, with a higher proportion of extreme drought than in other areas. The overall drought risk in the Russian part of the basin was relatively low. A trend analysis indicated a general pattern of drought alleviation in western regions and intensification in eastern areas. Most regions showed relatively stable patterns, with few areas exhibiting significant changes, mainly surrounding cities such as Qiqihar, Daqing, Harbin, Changchun, and Amur Oblast. Regions with aggravation accounted for 52.29% of the total study area, while regions showing slight alleviation account for 35.58%. This study provides a scientific basis and data infrastructure for drought monitoring in transboundary watersheds and for ensuring agricultural production security.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/14/2366droughtHeilongjiang River BasinTVDIconstrained line fitting methodITVDIChina–Mongolia–Russia transboundary region
spellingShingle Weihao Zou
Juanle Wang
Congrong Li
Keming Yang
Denis Fetisov
Jiawei Jiang
Meng Liu
Yaping Liu
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
Remote Sensing
drought
Heilongjiang River Basin
TVDI
constrained line fitting method
ITVDI
China–Mongolia–Russia transboundary region
title Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
title_full Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
title_fullStr Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
title_full_unstemmed Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
title_short Spatiotemporal Analysis of Drought Variation from 2001 to 2023 in the China–Mongolia–Russia Transboundary Heilongjiang River Basin Based on ITVDI
title_sort spatiotemporal analysis of drought variation from 2001 to 2023 in the china mongolia russia transboundary heilongjiang river basin based on itvdi
topic drought
Heilongjiang River Basin
TVDI
constrained line fitting method
ITVDI
China–Mongolia–Russia transboundary region
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/14/2366
work_keys_str_mv AT weihaozou spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT juanlewang spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT congrongli spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT kemingyang spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT denisfetisov spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT jiaweijiang spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT mengliu spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi
AT yapingliu spatiotemporalanalysisofdroughtvariationfrom2001to2023inthechinamongoliarussiatransboundaryheilongjiangriverbasinbasedonitvdi