Fu et al. (2025) Spatial-temporal patterns of concurrent droughts and heatwaves in the Qaidam Basin, China

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Identification

• Journal: Geomatics Natural Hazards and Risk
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-16
• Authors: Aodi Fu, Wenzheng Yu, Bashar Bashir, Zhudeng Wei, Jinjun Gu, Lanping Yu, Karam Alsafadi
• DOI: 10.1080/19475705.2025.2575359

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study investigated the spatiotemporal patterns and synergistic mechanisms of extreme heatwave–drought compound events in the Qaidam Basin from 1990 to 2020, revealing increasing heatwave trends, contrasting monthly moistening versus seasonal aridification, and identifying teleconnections with western Pacific subtropical high dynamics.

Objective

• To investigate the spatiotemporal patterns and synergistic mechanisms of extreme heatwave–drought compound events in the Qaidam Basin.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau arid zone.
• Temporal Scale: 1990 to 2020.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for drought assessment.
• Data sources: Observational data, multivariate statistical analyses.

Main Results

• All heatwave durations (1–7 days) exhibited significant increasing trends, with 1-day events showing the fastest growth rate (2.3 events/decade).
• Spatially, heatwave frequency intensified northward, peaking at Golmud Station (5.1 events/decade for 1-day events).
• SPEI revealed contrasting trends: monthly moistening (+0.108/decade for SPEI1) versus seasonal to annual aridification (declines of 0.007–0.088/decade for SPEI3–12).
• Extreme droughts clustered in 2001 (SPEI1 = −2.03) and 2013 (SPEI6 = −1.87).
• Heatwave–drought co-occurrence frequency generally declined (−0.86 events/year for 1-day events), but an anomalous peak occurred in 2000, driven by Tibetan Plateau circulation anomalies.
• Local moisture conditions (precipitation and relative humidity, r = −0.41) dominated decoupling, while the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Western Pacific Index (WP) regulated interannual variability.
• The 2000 extreme episode was characterized by 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies (−10 gpm) and cyclonic 700-hPa wind patterns.

Contributions

• Provides identification of teleconnections between compound extremes and western Pacific subtropical high dynamics in the northern Tibetan Plateau arid zone.
• Offers dynamical foundations for extreme event risk assessment in warming–wetting transitional regions.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Fu2025Spatialtemporal,
  author = {Fu, Aodi and Yu, Wenzheng and Bashir, Bashar and Wei, Zhudeng and Gu, Jinjun and Yu, Lanping and Alsafadi, Karam},
  title = {Spatial-temporal patterns of concurrent droughts and heatwaves in the Qaidam Basin, China},
  journal = {Geomatics Natural Hazards and Risk},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1080/19475705.2025.2575359},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2025.2575359}
}