Evaluation of drought and wetness episodes in a cold region (Northeast China) since 1898 with different drought indices

Abstract

Drought identification and drought severity characterization are crucial to understand water scarcity processes. Evolution of drought and wetness episodes in the upper Nen River (UNR) basin have been analyzed for the period of 1951–2012 using meteorological drought indices and for the period of 1898–2010 using hydrological drought indices. There were three meteorological indices: one based on precipitation [the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)] and the other two based on water balance with different formulations of potential evapotranspiration (PET) in the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Moreover, two hydrological indices, the Standardized Runoff Index and Standardized Streamflow Index, were also applied in the UNR basin. Based on the meteorological indices, the results showed that the main dry period of 1965–1980 and wet periods of 1951–1964 and 1981–2002 affected this cold region. It was also found that most areas of the UNR basin experienced near normal condition during the period of 1951–2012. As a whole, the UNR basin mainly had the drought episodes in the decades of 1910, 1920, 1970 and 2000 based on hydrological indices. Also, the severity of droughts decreased from the periods of 1898–1950 to 1951–2010, while the severity of floods increased oppositely during the same periods. A correlation analysis showed that hydrological system needs a time lag of one or more months to respond to meteorological conditions in this cold region. It was also found that although precipitation had a major role in explaining temporal variability of drought, the influence of PET was not negligible. However, the sole temperature driver of PET had an opposite effect in the UNR basin (i.e., misestimating the drought detection) and was inferior to the SPI, which suggests that the PET in the SPEI should be determined by using underlying physical principles. This finding is an important implication for the drought research in future.