Arid Zone Research ›› 2019, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (2): 280-289.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2019.02.02

• Pan-Third Pole Enviornment and Green Silk Road • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Drought Reconstruction Based on Tree-Ring Width in Headwaters of the Lancang River

HUANG Xiao-mei1, XIAO Ding-mu2, QIN Ning-sheng3   

  1. 1. Chengdu Institute of Plateau Meteorology, CMA/Sichuan Provincial Key Laboratory for Heavy Rain and Drought-Flood Disasters in Plateau and Basin, Chengdu 610072, Sichuan,China;
    2. Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Observatory, Chengdu 610072, Sichuan,China;
    3. Sichuan Provincial Climate Center, Chengdu 610072, Sichuan,China
  • Received:2018-06-27 Revised:2018-09-27 Published:2025-10-18

Abstract: Tree-ring width residual chronology (RES) was developed from the tree-ring samples collected in Angsai Township, Zaduo County, Qinghai Province. The results of general survey showed that there was a high correlation between the tree-ring width chronology and the SPEI (June-July) at 12-month time scale. The June-July SPEI in the headwaters of the Lancang River was reconstructed from AD 1639 to 2013, and it was used to explain the 37.4% of the total SPEI variance during their common period. The cross-validation revealed that the reconstructed equation was stable. The results showed that the relatively wet periods occurred during 1694-1710, 1753-1778, 1830-1847, 1862-1872, 1892-1908, 1919-1929 and 1978-1989, and the relatively dry periods occurred during 1646-1673, 1682-1693, 1711-1731, 1735-1752, 1796-1809, 1817-1829, 1848-1861, 1873-1886, 1949-1959 and 1990-2000, respectively. The reconstructed SPEI series revealed that there were the significant variation periods of 30-64, 19-21, 4.2-4.3, 2.6-3.2, 2.5 and 2.2 years. Correlation analysis showed that the sea surface temperature in the middle-east equator Pacific Ocean affected significantly the dry-wet changes in the headwaters of the Lancang River. Our reconstruction was associated with the large-scale atmospheric-oceanic variability, such as the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and solar activity. This SPEI reconstruction could provide a long-term drought history in the headwaters of the Lancang River and serve as the scientific basis for water resources management in this semiarid region.

Key words: Lancang River, tree-ring width, SPEI reconstruction