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Spatial–temporal variations of spring drought based on spring-composite index values for the Songnen Plain, Northeast China

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Abstract

A spring-composite index (s-CI) is proposed in this study that involves slightly altering the use of the accumulated precipitation from the composite index (CI) comparing the value with other three commonly used indices (standardized precipitation index, SPI; self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index, sc-PDSI; and CI). In addition, the spatial–temporal variation of the s-CI in the Songnen Plain (SNP) was investigated using the Mann–Kendall test and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) methods. The results indicated that the proposed s-CI could identify most drought events in 1990s and 2000s and performed relatively better than SPI, sc-PDSI, and CI in this region. Compared with the other three indices, the s-CI had a higher correlation with relative soil moisture in April and May. The recent spring droughts (2000s) were the most severe in April or May. The weather was drier in May compared with April in the 1980s, whereas the weather was wetter in May than in April in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, the spatial patterns of the first EOFs for both April and May indicated an obviously east–west gradient in the SNP, whereas the second EOFs displayed north–south drought patterns. The proposed index is particularly suitable for detecting, monitoring, and exploring spring droughts in the Songnen Plain under global warming.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 41201568) and the Key Project of Knowledge Innovation Program of CAS (Project No. KZCX2-YW-Q06-1). We wish to thank Dr. Lu Zhang from Land and Water of CSIRO and the two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments and constructive suggestions used to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xiaoyan Song, Lijuan Li, Jiuyi Li, Wenbin Liu & Kai Zhang

  2. CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, WA, Australia

    Guobin Fu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaoyan Song, Wenbin Liu & Kai Zhang

  4. Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Aijing Zhang

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  1. Xiaoyan Song
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  2. Lijuan Li
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  4. Jiuyi Li
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Correspondence to Lijuan Li.

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Song, X., Li, L., Fu, G. et al. Spatial–temporal variations of spring drought based on spring-composite index values for the Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Theor Appl Climatol 116, 371–384 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-013-0957-2

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