Spatio-temporal distributions of compound drought and heat events (CDHEs) with different risk levels in Shaanxi Province, China

Abstract

To enhance the monitoring of compound drought and heat events (CDHEs), in this study, we take Shaanxi Province as the study area and use the relative thresholds of daily maximum temperature and meteorological drought composite index to define and identify the CDHEs with different risk levels in this area from 1961 to 2023. This research focuses on the spatio-temporal distributions, duration, affected area and variation trend of the CDHEs. The results indicate that for different risk levels, the north of northern Shaanxi and the central and eastern parts of central Shaanxi are the high-frequency areas of the CDHEs, and high temperature has a great impact on the frequency of the CDHEs in these regions. The intensification of drought shows a larger influence on the frequency of the CDHEs in Hanzhong, southern Shaanxi Province. Before the 1990s, the frequency contribution of the non-persistent CDHEs varied larger than normal, and since the late 1990s, it has increased. In the 21st century, the frequency of the persistent CDHEs at different risk levels increased, especially those lasting more than 5 days. High temperature is the direct factor that leads to the growth in the frequency of the persistent CDHEs. For the same frequency, the persistent CDHEs tend to affect a larger area. In 1961–2023, the frequency of the CDHEs in Shaanxi Province showed an overall increasing trend, and the trend rates decreased from the east to the west. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the CDHE frequency in Shaanxi Province showed a clear decreasing trend. After the 1990s, it displayed a rising trend, and this increasing trend became especially noticeable since 2020. The CDHE frequency at four kinds of threshold combinations varied dramatically in 1991 or 1992, with larger increases along the Yellow River in northern Shaanxi, and in the west of central Shaanxi and the west of southern Shaanxi.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

compound drought and heat events / different risk levels / Shaanxi

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