Meteorological drought over the Chinese Loess Plateau: 1971–2010

In this study, the Variable Infiltration Capacity model and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) were combined for drought identification on the Loess Plateau. The calibration method of climatic characteristic (Kj) in PDSI was improved. Land cover datasets in 1980 and 2005 were used to drive the model. The driest periods over the past four decades of the study region emerged in 1976–1982, 1997–2001 and 2003–2008. Regardless of ranking by duration, spatial extent or severity, most of the prominent droughts occurred in the detected driest periods. The drought severity and area over the upper reaches of the Yellow River were higher than other domains. A total of 53 droughts with area greater than the 25,000 km2 threshold were identified with durations longer than 3 months using clustering algorithm. Most regions of the study area exhibited spatially increasing trends in drought severity and frequency, indicating that the Loess Plateau has experienced apparent drying and warming processes between 1971 and 2010.