Abstract
Daily precipitation data for 1957–2009 from 53 stations in the Xinjiang, China, are analyzed, based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) with the aim to investigate spatio-temporal patterns of droughts. The Mann–Kendall trend test is used to detect the trends in the SPI values of monthly drought series, drought severity and drought duration. The frequencies of moderate, severe and extreme droughts are higher in the North Xinjiang, while mild droughts occur more often in the South Xinjiang. A decreasing frequency of droughts in the North Xinjiang is found in winter, but a drying tendency is detected in the western parts of the North Xinjiang during spring, summer and autumn, which may be harmful for agriculture. The South Xinjiang seems to be getting wetter in summer, while the south parts of the South Xinjiang seem to be getting drier in spring. The middle of the East Xinjiang is identified to be in a slightly dry tendency. The drought severity is decreasing and drought duration is getting shorter in the North Xinjiang, while both of them increase in the southern parts of the South Xinjiang. In addition, droughts in the middle parts of the East Xinjiang are intensifying.
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Acknowledgments
The research was financially supported by the National Department Public Benefit Research Foundation (Grant No.: 201001066), Xinjiang Science and Technology project (Grant No.: 200931105), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 41071020; 50839005), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University and by the Geographical Modeling and Geocomputation Program under the Focused Investment Scheme (1902042) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The authors extend their cordial gratitude to the editor, Prof. Dr. Thomas Glade, and two anonymous reviewers for their professional and pertinent comments and suggestions that greatly helped to improve the quality of this manuscript.
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Zhang, Q., Li, J., Singh, V.P. et al. SPI-based evaluation of drought events in Xinjiang, China. Nat Hazards 64, 481–492 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0251-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0251-0