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Drought trends based on the VCI and its correlation with climate factors in the agricultural areas of China from 1982 to 2010

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Abstract

Drought is a type of natural disaster that has the most significant impacts on agriculture. Regional drought monitoring based on remote sensing has become popular due to the development of remote sensing technology. In this study, vegetation condition index (VCI) data recorded from 1982 to 2010 in agricultural areas of China were obtained from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data, and the temporal and spatial variations in each drought were analyzed. The relationships between drought and climate factors were also analyzed. The results showed that from 1982 to 2010, the agricultural areas that experienced frequent and severe droughts were mainly concentrated in the northwestern areas and Huang-Huai Plain. Moreover, the VCI increased in the majority of agricultural areas, indicating that the drought frequency decreased over time, and the decreasing trend in the southern region was more notable than that in the northern region. A correlation analysis showed that temperature and wind velocity were the main factors that influenced drought in the agricultural areas of China. From a regional perspective, excluding precipitation, the climate factors had various effects on drought in different regions. However, the correlation between the VCI and precipitation was low, possibly due to the widespread use of artificial irrigation technology, which reduces the reliance of agricultural areas on precipitation.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (nos. 41401473 and 31560130); the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2013M531329); the National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2010CB951503); and the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for Undergraduates (nos. 201610320004Z and 201310320048Z).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China

    Xiaojin Qian, Liang Liang, Qiu Shen, Qin Sun & Lianpeng Zhang

  2. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Liang Liang, Shuhe Zhao & Zhihao Qin

  3. Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China

    Xiaojin Qian

  4. College of Biology and Environment Science, Jishou University, Jishou, China

    Zhixiao Liu

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  1. Xiaojin Qian
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  2. Liang Liang
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  3. Qiu Shen
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  4. Qin Sun
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  5. Lianpeng Zhang
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  7. Shuhe Zhao
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Correspondence to Liang Liang.

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Qian, X., Liang, L., Shen, Q. et al. Drought trends based on the VCI and its correlation with climate factors in the agricultural areas of China from 1982 to 2010. Environ Monit Assess 188, 639 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5657-9

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