Characteristics and trends of meteorological drought over China from remote sensing precipitation datasets
The meteorological drought, caused by a shortage of precipitation over a certain period, is the root of a causal chain in drought series in agriculture, ecology and hydrology. Different precipitation datasets produced inconsistent conclusions in the characteristics and trends of drought events. This study analyzed the characteristics and trends of meteorological drought over China using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) derived from TRMM and CMORPH precipitation data. The annual precipitation over China was increased from 1998 to 2014, indicating a wetting trend over China in the past near twenty years. CMORPH data showed more significant wetting trend than TRMM data. The wetting trend mainly occurred in northern China, while southern China has experienced a drying trend. The drying trend over China in spring and summer is more obvious than in autumn and winter. However, all analysis showed that the drought area over China as a whole was decreasing from 1998 to 2014.