Lai et al. (2026) Spatiotemporal characteristics of soil drought and identification of influencing factors in various regions of China

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-06-30
• Authors: Hexin Lai, Fei Wang, Rong Li, Mengting Du, Shaofeng Yan, Shikai Gao, Kun Ren, Ruyi Men, Wenhan Yu, Qian Xu, Kai Feng, Yanbin Li, Shengzhi Huang, Yanping Qu, Haibo Yang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110576

Research Groups

• School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
• Hubei Institute of Water Resources Survey and Design Co., LTD, Wuhan 430070, China
• Research Center on Flood and Drought Disaster Reduction, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
• School of Water Conservancy and Transportation, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Short Summary

This study assesses the temporal evolution and spatial pattern of soil drought in China from 2000 to 2022 using remote sensing and in-situ site observation data. The results show that soil drought in China presented a changing trend of first aggravation and then deceleration.

Objective

• Characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of soil drought across different regions of China.
• Detect the major turning points and abrupt change types of soil drought during the study period.
• Distinguish the relative contributions of climatic variables to soil drought.
• Quantify the spatiotemporal dynamic responses of soil drought to meteorological drought events.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: National scale, with a focus on different regions of China.
• Temporal Scale: 2000-2022, with daily and monthly time steps.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: BFAST algorithm for trend change detection, GMK method for spatial trend identification, PWC for analyzing the relationships between SSMI and climatic factors, MWC for examining the interaction among different climatic factors.
• Data sources: Soil moisture datasets based on remote sensing (SMCI) and in-situ site observation data, atmospheric circulation factors from NOAA.

Main Results

• The minimum monthly SSMI occurred in August 2004, with a value of –0.81.
• There was one type of “decrease to increase” positive breakpoint that occurred in March 2010.
• Soil drought across the country showed a trend of first worsening and then easing.
• The year with the most severe soil drought in China was 2009, when the average annual SSMI reached the minimum –0.55.

Contributions

• This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of soil drought across different regions of China.
• It identifies the major turning points and abrupt change types of soil drought during the study period.
• The results highlight the importance of climatic variables in explaining soil drought changes.

Funding

• Not specified.

Citation

@article{Lai2026Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Lai, Hexin and Wang, Fei and Li, Rong and Du, Mengting and Yan, Shaofeng and Gao, Shikai and Ren, Kun and Men, Ruyi and Yu, Wenhan and Xu, Qian and Feng, Kai and Li, Yanbin and Huang, Shengzhi and Qu, Yanping and Yang, Haibo},
  title = {Spatiotemporal characteristics of soil drought and identification of influencing factors in various regions of China},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110576},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110576}
}