Huang et al. (2026) Spatiotemporal Evolution and Directional Asymmetry of Drought–Flood Abrupt Alternation Events Across China's Hydroclimatic Zones

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Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-11-06
• Authors: Xing Huang, Long Ma, Qiang Zhang, Tingxi Liu, Chao Li, Bolin Sun
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70636

Research Groups

Not specified in abstract.

Short Summary

This study developed a reverse-Copula-based framework to identify and classify drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) events across China from 1961 to 2024, revealing their spatiotemporal evolution, increasing frequency, and directional asymmetry, particularly after 2000.

Objective

• To develop a unified identification scheme for drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) events at large spatial scales and systematically characterize their spatiotemporal evolution across China.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: China
• Temporal Scale: 1961–2024 (monthly resolution)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Reverse-Copula-based framework for event identification and intensity classification.
• Data sources: Monthly hydroclimatic data.

Main Results

• DFAA events in China exhibit clear spatial heterogeneity, with high-occurrence areas concentrated in the Eastern monsoon region, climate transition zones, and topographically complex areas.
• Mild and moderate events are the most common, while severe and extreme events show more localized clustering.
• The number of DFAA events increased by approximately 22.5% after 2000, marked by both higher event frequency and a shift towards medium- and high-intensity events.
• Drought-to-flood (D-F) and flood-to-drought (F-D) events demonstrate evident directional asymmetry, with their dominant direction varying across different climate zones and decades.

Contributions

• Provides a unified, reverse-Copula-based framework for identifying and classifying DFAA events at a large spatial scale.
• Systematically characterizes the spatiotemporal evolution and intensity structure of DFAA events across China over a long period.
• Offers insights into the directional asymmetry of D-F and F-D events and their variability.
• Establishes a foundation for identifying compound hydroclimatic extremes, assessing regional drought-flood hazards, and informing climate-change adaptation strategies.

Funding

Not specified in abstract.

Citation

@article{Huang2026Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Huang, Xing and Ma, Long and Zhang, Qiang and Liu, Tingxi and Li, Chao and Sun, Bolin},
  title = {Spatiotemporal Evolution and Directional Asymmetry of Drought–Flood Abrupt Alternation Events Across China's Hydroclimatic Zones},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70636},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70636}
}