scholarly journals Connections between meteorological and hydrological droughts in a semi-arid basin of the middle Yellow River

Author(s):  
Binquan Li ◽  
Changchang Zhu ◽  
Zhongmin Liang ◽  
Guoqing Wang ◽  
Yu Zhang

Abstract. Differences between meteorological and hydrological droughts could reflect the regional water consumption by both natural elements and human water-use. The connections between these two drought types were analyzed using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), respectively. In a typical semi-arid basin of the middle Yellow River (Qingjianhe River basin), annual precipitation and air temperature showed significantly downward and upward trends, respectively, with the rates of −2.37 mm yr−1 and 0.03 ∘C yr−1 (1961–2007). Under their synthetic effects, water balance variable (represented by SPEI) showed obviously downward (drying) trend at both upstream and whole basin areas. For the spatial variability of precipitation, air temperature and the calculated SPEI, both upstream and downstream areas experienced very similar change characteristics. Results also suggested that the Qingjianhe River basin experienced near normal condition during the study period. As a whole, this semi-arid basin mainly had the meteorological drought episodes in the mid-1960s, late-1990s and the 2000s depicted by 12-month SPEI. The drying trend could also be depicted by the hydrological drought index (12-month SSI) at both upstream and downstream stations (Zichang and Yanchuan), but the decreasing trends were not significant. A correlation analysis showed that hydrological system responds rapidly to the change of meteorological conditions in this semi-arid region. This finding could be an useful implication to drought research for those semi-arid basins with intensive human activities.

Author(s):  
Esdras Adriano Barbosa dos Santos ◽  
Tatijana Stosic ◽  
Ikaro Daniel de Carvalho Barreto ◽  
Laélia Campos ◽  
Antonio Samuel Alves da Silva

This work evaluated dry and rainy conditions in the subregions of the São Francisco River Basin (BHSF) using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Markov chains. Each subregion of the BHSF has specific physical and climatic characteristics. The data was obtained from the National Water Agency (ANA), collected by four pluviometric stations (representative of each subregion), covering 46 years of data, from 1970 to 2015. The SPI was calculated for the time scales of six and twelve months and transition probabilities were obtained using the Markov chain. Transition matrices showed that, at both scales, if the climate conditions were severe drought or rainy, switching to another class would be unlikely in the short term.  Correlating this information with the probabilities of the stationary distribution, it was possible to find the regions that are most likely to be under rainy or dry weather in the future. The recurrence times calculated for the stations that belong to the semi-arid region were smaller when compared to the value of the return period of the representative station of Upper São Francisco that has higher levels of precipitation, confirming the predisposition of the semi-arid region to present greater chances of future periods of drought.


2007 ◽  
Vol 333 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maki Tsujimura ◽  
Yutaka Abe ◽  
Tadashi Tanaka ◽  
Jun Shimada ◽  
Satoru Higuchi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
Vanda Claudino-Sales

The rivers and their watersheds are fundamental elements of socioeconomic activities. In this article, we analyze the hydrographic basin of the Acaraú River, situated in the northeast of Brazil, from its geoenvironmental aspects, based on the perspective of the geosystem. In this perspective, a geoenvironmental picture of the hydrographic basin in question is presented, as well as the environmental problems that characterize it, postulating the need to carry out this type of survey to define the basin as a fundamental planning unit. The Acaraú River basin has particular characteristics, since it is located in a poor and extremely populous semi-arid region, which results in socio-environmental stress, whose main consequence is the environmental degradation of the fluvial course. The regional authorities need to be aware of the geoenvironmental elements raised in order to reverse this framework of socio-environmental degradation of water resources and to allow territorial growth based on sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Magaña ◽  
Eduardo Herrera ◽  
Carlos J. Ábrego-Góngora ◽  
José Antonio Ávalos

The Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA) is located in northeastern Mexico in a semi-arid region. As in other areas of the world, prolonged and severe meteorological droughts are recurrent. Meteorological droughts affect the level of dam reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater (aquifers) in the region to the extent they become hydrological droughts which in turn may contribute to socioeconomic droughts. The recent dry event (2011–2013) in northern Mexico severely affected various socioeconomic sectors and may serve as an example of future climatic and hydrologic conditions in this region. Meteorological droughts in northeastern Mexico, mostly induced by anomalously intense subsidence, frequently result in hydrological droughts and intense pressure in the water resources services of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA), one of the largest cities in Mexico. Landfalling tropical cyclones entering northeastern Mexico historically have alleviated water crises during prolonged droughts. In 2013, the rains from tropical cyclone Ingrid helped to recover water levels in the system of dam reservoirs that provides water to the MMA. However, water management is only one part of a complex socioeconomic system that must respond to the growing demands for water in a region where aquifers are already overexploited. Trends in the atmospheric circulation indicate that droughts in the region may become more severe in the coming decades. Improved water management programs and protocols should be considered in addition to closer reviews of the hydraulic infrastructure. Water transfers from one region to another should be carefully planned because solving a problem in one place may adversely affect another. The use of climate information may be critical to avoidance of water conflicts in the future.


Author(s):  
Lin Wang ◽  
Jianyun Zhang ◽  
Amgad Elmahdi ◽  
Zhangkang Shu ◽  
Yinghui Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract In the context of global warming and increasing human activities, the acceleration of the water cycle will increase the risk of basin drought. In this study, to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of hydrological and meteorological droughts over the Hanjiang River Basin (HRB); the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) were selected and applied for the period 1961–2018. In addition, the cross-wavelet method was used to discuss the relationship between hydrological drought and meteorological droughts. The results and analysis indicated that: (1) the meteorological drought in the HRB showed a complex cyclical change trend of flood-drought-flood from 1961 to 2018. The basin drought began to intensify from 1990s and eased in 2010s. The characteristics of drought evolution in various regions are different based on scale. (2) During the past 58 years, the hydrological drought in the HRB has shown a significant trend of intensification, particularly in autumn season. Also, the hydrological droughts had occurred frequently since the 1990s, and there were also regional differences in the evolution characteristics of drought in various regions. (3) Reservoir operation reduces the frequency of extreme hydrological drought events. The effect of reducing the duration and intensity of hydrological drought events by releasing water from the reservoir is most obvious at Huangjiagang Station, which is the nearest to Danjiangkou Reservoir. (4) The hydrological drought and meteorological drought in the HRB have the strongest correlation on the yearly scale. After 1990, severe human activities and climate change are not only reduced the correlation between hydrological drought and meteorological drought in the middle and lower reaches of the basin, but also reduced the lag time between them. Among them, the hydrological drought in the upper reaches of the basin lags behind the meteorological drought by 1 month, and the hydrological drought in the middle and lower reaches of the basin has changed from 2 months before 1990 to 1 month lagging after 1990.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1791-1803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhui Li ◽  
Xingmin Mu ◽  
Guangju Zhao ◽  
Peng Gao ◽  
Wenyi Sun

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