Arid Zone Research ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 246-257.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2025.02.06

• Land and Water Resources • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Drought characteristics of terrestrial water storage in the Yellow River Basin based on GRACE/GRACE-FO

LUAN Kuifeng1,2(), XUE Jiasheng1, FENG Guiping1,2(), HU Jiancong1, GUAN Zhihao1, ZHU Weidong1,2, YUAN Jiansheng1,2   

  1. 1. College of Oceanography and Ecological Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
    2. Shanghai Estuary Marine Surveying and Mapping Engineering Technology Research Center, Shanghai 201306, China
  • Received:2024-07-10 Revised:2024-12-18 Online:2025-02-15 Published:2025-02-21
  • Contact: FENG Guiping E-mail:kfluan@shou.edu.cn;gpfeng@shou.edu.cn

Abstract:

This study used GRACE and GRACE-FO gravity satellite data to invert the Terrestrial Water Storage reserves in the Yellow River Basin from 2002 to 2022. We also calculated the standardized Water Storage Deficit Index to analyze the drought characteristics of the Yellow River Basin from 2002 to 2022. From 2002 to 2022, the Terrestrial Water Storage in the entire Yellow River Basin, upstream, and middle lower reaches was about 5.43 mm·a-1, 1.03 mm·a-1, and 8.36 mm·a-1, respectively. Between 2002 and 2022, six drought events occurred in the entire Yellow River Basin, eleven in the upper reaches and eight in the middle and lower reaches. Regarding the drought intensity, moderate and extreme droughts were more common in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, mild drought was more common in the middle and lower reaches, and mild drought was more common in the entire region, with the strongest event being severe drought. The drought events in the Yellow River Basin in 2022 were concentrated at the junction of the upper and middle lower reaches. Drought events mainly occurred in the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin; the area is in a drought state throughout the year, except for the Yellow River source area. The drought phenomenon is evident in the Inland River Basin and Fen River Basin at the junction of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin; only a few months in the lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin are affected by drought. In 2022, the center of the drought events gradually shifted from the Qiantao Basin to the Xitao Basin.

Key words: GRACE/GRACE-FO, terrestrial water storage, drought, Yellow River Basin