Recently, Prof. Baoqing Zhang's team from the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University published an article titled “A framework for global multi-category and multi-scalar drought characterization accounting for snow processes” in the journal of Water Resources Research (WRR). After a series of articles in hydrology was published, this is another important advance in simulating and forewarn of drought.
The dynamic process of snow accumulation and thaw (DPSAT) plays an important role in regional water supply, and it can not only change the quantity of the regional water balance component but also has an important impact on the seasonal distribution of water. Therefore, it is necessary to research the effects of the dynamic process on drought events in different time scales for accurate drought simulation and assessment. The study incorporated the DPSAT into hydrologic cycle modeling and analyzed the influence of the snowfall-accumulation-thaw process on the occurrence and development trend of drought events in different time scales. It has the function of multi-time scale analysis and improved the physical mechanism of the existing drought simulation and prediction methods. All factors affecting drought conditions, including precipitation, snowfall, snowmelt, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and runoff, were fully considered.
In this study, the assessment accuracy of meteorological drought, hydrological drought, agricultural drought and other drought situations has been significantly improved, especially in the basins with deep snow cover. The study has provided answers for the problem that the occurrence and development of drought in different time scales cannot be accurately reflected in the cold mountain areas of high latitude and altitude. Meanwhile, it provided a new idea for the regional water resourcesoptimization allocationand the preparation of drought-risk reduction and control.
Professor Zhang is the first author of this article, and Lanzhou university is the primary institute of this research result, some well-known scholars from the University of California of Irvine, Tsinghua University and National Centers for Environmental Prediction participated in the research. The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Chinese Academy of Sciences' strategic leading science and technology program (category A), and the Key National Research and Development Program.
