GUO Shu-shu, XIN Jing-feng

Research Center on Flood & Drought Disaster Reduction, IWHR, Beijing 100038, China

Abstract: Based on the daily data from 109 rainfall stations, the spatial-temporal evolution of drought in 1978 for Anhui province is analyzed in different time scales using the precipitation anomaly percentage index and the regional drought index in the GIS environment. The study results indicate that: (1) When the cumulative effects of pre-precipitation are taken into account, the study results are consistent with actual situation through the improved precipitation anomaly percentage index in daily scale. (2) The proposed regional drought index is an effective method to determine the start and end date of drought. (3) Anhui province had experienced a seasonally continuous drought from spring to autumn in 1978, which lasted for 253 days. The drought from April 4 to August 11 was the most serious, and on May 3, 75 % of the arable land was affected by severe drought.

Key words: dreadful drought, drought reappearance, precipitation, spatial-temporal evolution

Published in: Journal of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (Vol. 12 No. 1, 2014)