Nguyen et al. (2026) Characterizing Patterns of Drought Synchronicity in the Contiguous United States

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-04-01
• Authors: L. Y.M. Nguyen, Mohammed Ombadi
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr041240

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the provided abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigates the regional and temporal dynamics of drought synchronicity across the contiguous United States from 1980 to 2021, revealing an increasing influence of low-frequency oscillations and higher synchronicity in the Great Plains and Midwest, particularly for short-term droughts, driven by factors including potential evapotranspiration and large-scale climate variability.

Objective

• To investigate the regional and temporal dynamics of drought synchronicity across the contiguous United States (CONUS) from 1980 to 2021.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Contiguous United States (CONUS)
• Temporal Scale: 1980 to 2021 (42 years); analysis of short-term (3-month) and long-term (12-month) droughts; observations since the early 2000s.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Wavelet analysis, Event Coincidence Analysis (ECA), explainable artificial intelligence (AI) methods.
• Data sources: Not explicitly detailed in the abstract, but the study examines drought definitions including precipitation deficits and potential evapotranspiration (PET).

Main Results

• Since the early 2000s, the spatial extent of drought events across CONUS has become increasingly influenced by low-frequency oscillations.
• The Great Plains and Midwest generally experience higher drought synchronicity compared to other regions.
• Short-term (3-month) droughts tend to be more synchronous than long-term (12-month) droughts.
• Including potential evapotranspiration (PET) in the drought definition enhances synchronicity in the Midwest and Great Plains but suppresses it in the Western United States.
• Large-scale climate variability, specifically the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) and Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM), contributes to drought synchronicity across CONUS.

Contributions

• Highlights drought synchronicity as an important and often overlooked dimension of drought risk.
• Provides a comprehensive analysis of regional and temporal dynamics of drought synchronicity across CONUS.
• Quantifies the influence of precipitation deficits and potential evapotranspiration on drought synchronicity.
• Utilizes explainable artificial intelligence to identify the contribution of large-scale climate variability to drought synchronicity.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the provided abstract.

Citation

@article{Nguyen2026Characterizing,
  author = {Nguyen, L. Y.M. and Ombadi, Mohammed},
  title = {Characterizing Patterns of Drought Synchronicity in the Contiguous United States},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr041240},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041240}
}