Abstract: The 114 drought cases in the Qinghai Plateau during the period from 1986 to 2013 and the monthly,seasonal and annual SPI,PA,K and MCI indexes during the period from 1981 to 2015 were used in this study.The annual and seasonal consistencies of meteorological drought and actual drought were compared,and the characterization capabilities of different drought indexes for the typical drought events were evaluated.The main conclusions were as follows: ① The SPI and K indexes could be used to well monitor the inter-decadal variation of the total occurring frequency of drought,the drought-monitoring capability of SPI was the highest,and then that of K,and that of PA and MCI was poor; ② The SPI and K indexes could be used to well monitor the spring drought and summer drought,but the results of monitoring autumn drought and winter drought were unideal.The seasonal drought-monitoring results of PA and MCI indexes were significantly different; ③ The SPI index could be used to monitor the occurrence and degree of drought.There was some deviation in drought degree between the K and PA indexes,but a significant deviation in both the drought degree and extent based on MCI index; ④ The results based on SPI and K indexes were more reasonable to describe the process of drought,but those based on PA and MCI indexes did not accord with the drought occurrence and development; ⑤ Taken together,SPI index was optimal used to monitor spring drought and summer drought,then K index,and PA and MCI indexes were poor in monitoring the spring drought and summer drought.

Key words: meteorological drought, SPI index, PA index, K index, MCI index, applicability evaluation, Qinghai Plateau