Analysis on spatial and temporal characteristics drought of Yunnan Province

Abstract Since the beginning of the 21st century, the global warming trend is an increasing cause for concern. Frequent extreme weather events occur under the conditions of global change. Exploring the relationship between climate change and drought disasters using climate change performance characteristics has become a prime research problem. It is increasingly important to study the temporal and spatial distribution of aridity and drought causes in the southwest region. We collected meteorological data from 16 meteorological stations from 1956 to 2010 in Yunnan Province of Southwest China, and used a composite index (CI) of meteorological drought to analyze temporal and spatial characteristics of droughts in the province. Based on daily CI values of each station during the 50 years, drought processes there were confirmed individually. Occurrence frequencies, scopes and severities of meteorological droughts were computed and analyzed to reveal their temporal and spatial occurrence patterns in different parts of the province. The results are as follows: (1) Temperature in the province, showing the well-being of the turn, has an obvious 4-year principal cycle. Temperature gradually rose after 1980. Fluctuation of precipitation was relatively stable, with a cycle of about 2 years. (2) On the spatial scale, drought occurred over wide areas in the province. Its overall distribution showed a gradual increase from northwest to southeast. Drought days were the most numerous in the southeast, and fewer in the southwest. (3) Examining seasonal variation, the occurrence of spring droughts was high. The multi-year average of drought frequency exceeded 70%. The frequency of summer and autumn drought was less, and that of winter drought was highest. (4) The causes of drought are complex, comprising the combined effects of atmospheric circulation, geography, and human factors. There was a strong negative correlation between the interannual variation of drought days and precipitation anomaly values. With warming temperatures, the chances for regional drought significantly increased, but the interaction mechanism remains unexplained and should be explored in the future. The climate in Yunnan Province has typical characteristics. The temperature and extreme weather of recent years has certainly changed in response to global climate change, and has caused regional disasters. The aforementioned mechanism represents the next research direction.