Separating the impact of climate change and human activities on the connection between meteorological and hydrological drought

作者：Jianyu Fu, Bingjun Liu, Yang Lu, Yuling Chen, Fang Yang, Yong He, Wenhao Jia, Yun Zhang · 发表于：Hydrological Processes · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/hyp.15258 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Hydrology and Drought Analysis、Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies、Flood Risk Assessment and Management

Abstract Understanding the transition from meteorological to hydrological drought is essential for accurately predicting hydrological droughts. However, the factors driving this transition are intricate, and a comprehensive understanding of how direct human activities influence this shift in drought is lacking. In this study, we initially explored the spatiotemporal correlation between the occurrence of meteorological and hydrological droughts. Subsequently, we formulated multiple hydrological replenishment scenarios using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to assess the environmental impact of the transition from meteorological to hydrological droughts. The Xijiang River Basin (XRB), the primary tributary of the Pearl River basin, was selected as the study area. Our results identified 91 meteorological droughts in the XRB, and only 66 hydrological droughts from 1978 to 2018. The transition rate from meteorological to hydrological drought demonstrated large spatial variability, with a basin‐average rate of 56% and the lowest transition rate of 45% in the headstream The transition from meteorological to hydrological drought was mostly rapid between November and December (~2 months), but can be prolonged during spring (about 3–5 months) and winter (around 7–9 months). Additionally, analysis of regeneration scenarios indicated that human activity has mitigated drought severity over recent decades. The primary driver affecting drought duration and frequency during th...