Reconstructing a long-term water storage-based drought index in the Yangtze River Basin

Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle, and is one of the most costly weather events. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) derived terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) have been widely used to assess drought severity. However, the relatively short cover period of GRACE and GRACE Follow-On limit our knowledge about the characterization and evolution of drought over decades time scale. This study proposes a standardized GRACE reconstructed TWSA index (SGRTI) to assess the drought severity based on a statistical reconstruction method calibrated by GRACE observations. Results show that the SGRTI correlates well with 6-month scale SPI and SPEI, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.79 and 0.81 in the YRB from 1981 to 2019. Soil moisture can capture drought condition like the SGRTI, while cannot further reflect deeper water storage depletion. The SGRTI is also comparable to the SRI and in-situ water level. As a case study for the Yangtze River Basin, its three sub-basins experience more frequent droughts, shorter drought duration, and lower severity drought, as identified by SGRTI during 1992–2019 relative to 1963–1991. The presented SGRTI in this study can provide a valuable supplement to the drought index before the GRACE era. [Display omitted] •A long-term standardized GRACE reconstructed TWSA index (SGRTI) is proposed.•The SGRTI correlates well with 6-month scale SPI and SPEI in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB).•The three sub-basins in the YRB experience more frequent droughts and shorter drought duration from 1963 to 2019.