Drought assessment using a multivariate drought index in the Huaihe River basin of Eastern China
The Huaihe River Basin having China's highest population density (662 persons per km<sup>2</sup>) lies in a transition zone between the climates of North and South China, and is thus prone to drought. Therefore, the paper aims to develop an appropriate drought assessment approach...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2015-06-01
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| Series: | Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.proc-iahs.net/369/61/2015/piahs-369-61-2015.pdf |
| Summary: | The Huaihe River Basin having China's highest population density (662
persons per km<sup>2</sup>) lies in a transition zone between the climates of North and
South China, and is thus prone to drought. Therefore, the paper aims to
develop an appropriate drought assessment approach for drought assessment in
the Huaihe River basin, China. Based on the Principal Component Analysis of
precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and runoff, the three
latter variables of which were obtained by use of the Xin'anjiang model, a
new multivariate drought index (MDI) was formulated, and its thresholds were
determined by use of cumulative distribution function. The MDI, the
Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the self-calibrating Palmer
Drought Severity Index (sc-PDSI) time series on a monthly scale were
computed and compared during 1988, 1999/2000 and 2001 drought events. The
results show that the MDI exhibited certain advantages over the sc-PDSI and
the SPI in monitoring drought evolution. The MDI formulated by this paper
could provide a scientific basis for drought mitigation and management, and
references for drought assessment elsewhere in China. |
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| ISSN: | 2199-8981 2199-899X |