Liu et al. (2026) The origins and physical drivers of moisture transport anomalies during monsoon season droughts in the Yangtze River Valley

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrometeorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-09
• Authors: Ruihan Liu, Sixiang Wang, Xihui Gu, Yansong Guan, Liangwei Li, Dongdong Kong, Xiang Zhang, Hao Liang, Aminjon Gulakhmadov, José Antonio Marengo, Shengzhi Huang, Qiang Zhang, Denghua Yan, Lunche Wang
• DOI: 10.1175/jhm-d-25-0086.1

Research Groups

• Key Lab of Basin Water Resource and Eco-environmental Science in Hubei Province, Wuhan 430010, China
• The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, China
• Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and information engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
• Shenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen 518063, China
• Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
• National Engineering Research Center of Geographic Information System, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

Short Summary

This study investigates the origins and physical drivers of moisture transport anomalies during monsoon season droughts in the Yangtze River Valley. The research found that atmospheric moisture deficits over the YRV during MSDs stem from reduced precipitation and elevated evapotranspiration.

Objective

• Investigate the sources and physical drivers of moisture deficits linked to monsoon season droughts (MSDs) in the Yangtze River Valley (YRV).

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, focusing on the Yangtze River Valley.
• Temporal Scale: Long-term analysis from 1950 to 2022.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Land-atmosphere water balance framework.
• Data sources: Precipitation data, evapotranspiration data, and atmospheric moisture transport data.

Main Results

• Atmospheric moisture deficits over the YRV during MSDs stem from reduced precipitation and elevated evapotranspiration.
• The reduction in the precipitation component contributed by advected moisture explains 92.7% of the total precipitation decrease.
• Moisture deficits over the YRV during MSDs mainly arise from weakened moisture supply along the moisture transport channels from the northern Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the physical drivers of moisture transport anomalies during monsoon season droughts in the Yangtze River Valley.
• The findings suggest a rising occurrence risk of MSDs due to decreased moisture transport to YRV.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Liu2026origins,
  author = {Liu, Ruihan and Wang, Sixiang and Gu, Xihui and Guan, Yansong and Li, Liangwei and Kong, Dongdong and Zhang, Xiang and Liang, Hao and Gulakhmadov, Aminjon and Marengo, José Antonio and Huang, Shengzhi and Zhang, Qiang and Yan, Denghua and Wang, Lunche},
  title = {The origins and physical drivers of moisture transport anomalies during monsoon season droughts in the Yangtze River Valley},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrometeorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1175/jhm-d-25-0086.1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-25-0086.1}
}