Using the Local Drought Data and GRACE/GRACE-FO Data to Characterize the Drought Events in Mainland China from 2002 to 2020

Lilu Cui,Lulu Liu,Cheng Zhang,Zhicai Luo,Xiaolong Wang,Qiong Li

doi:10.3390/app11209594

Abstract

Accurate quantification of drought characteristics helps to achieve an objective and comprehensive analysis of drought events and to achieve early warning of drought and disaster loss assessment. In our study, a drought characterization approach based on drought severity index derived from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its Follow-On (GRACE-FO) data was used to quantify drought characteristics. In order to improve drought detection capability, we used the local drought data as calibration criteria to improve the accuracy of the drought characterization approach to determine the onset of drought. Additionally, the local precipitation data was used to test drought severity determined by the calibrated drought characterization approach. Results show that the drought event probability of detection (POD) of this approach in the four study regions increased by 61.29%, 25%, 94.29%, and 66.86%, respectively, after calibration. We used the calibrated approach to detect the drought events in Mainland China (MC) during 2016 and 2019. The results show that CAR of the four study regions is 100.00%, 92.31%, 100.00%, and 100.00%. Additionally, the precipitation anomaly index (PAI) data was used to evaluate the severity of drought from 2002 to 2020 determined by the calibrated approach. The results indicate that both have a strong similar spatial distribution. Our analysis demonstrates that the proposed approach can serve a useful tool for drought monitoring and characterization.

Highlights

Droughts are a serious natural phenomenon, which causes great damage to social life, agricultural production, economic development, and ecological environment [1,2]
We found a weak correlation between Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)-DSI and the other four drought indices in NW, which is consistent with the results of Liu et al [17]
It may be related to the local climate characteristics in this region, because Self-Calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (SCPDSI) and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) are mainly based on the local precipitation and evapotranspiration data, while GRACE-DSI is based on terrestrial water storage changes (TWSCs)

Summary

Introduction

Droughts are a serious natural phenomenon, which causes great damage to social life, agricultural production, economic development, and ecological environment [1,2]. The traditional drought characterization approach is based on the observation data (such as precipitation and evapotranspiration) derived from meteorological stations This approach relies too much on the number and spatial distribution of sites, so it is difficult to obtain enough observation data to assess the drought characteristics in some areas where sites are scarce [5]. This approach has other disadvantages, such as high construction cost, difficulty in obtaining large-scale and long-term observational data, and the overall situation of the terrestrial water [6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion