Yang et al. (2026) Variation and Environmental Drivers of Summer Evapotranspiration in the Yellow River Basin Based on ERA5-Land Reanalysis

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrometeorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-09
• Authors: Yang Yang, Lijuan Wang, Sha Sha, Xueyuan Ren, J Zhang
• DOI: 10.1175/jhm-d-25-0204.1

Research Groups

• Institute of Hydrology and Water Resources, Henan University of Science and Technology
• Key Laboratory of Arid Climate Change and Disaster Reduction, Lanzhou University
• State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University
• National Meteorological Center, China Meteorological Administration

Short Summary

This study investigates the variation and environmental drivers of summer evapotranspiration in the Yellow River Basin using ERA5-Land reanalysis data. The results show a decreasing trend of ET during 1980–2021, with changes in different environmental factors contributing to the variation in ET.

Objective

• Investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of summer evapotranspiration (ET) in the Yellow River Basin.
• Identify the main drivers of ET variation in the region.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: The study focuses on the Yellow River Basin, which covers an area of approximately 795,000 km² in northern China.
• Temporal Scale: The analysis is based on daily data from 1980 to 2021.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset.
• Data sources: Satellite and observation-based datasets were used to validate the ERA5-Land results.

Main Results

• A decreasing trend of ET was observed during 1980–2021, with an average annual decrease of 2.3 mm.
• Changes in different environmental factors (temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and soil moisture) contributed to the variation in ET.
• The response of ET to these environmental factors varied across the basin.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the drivers of ET variation in the Yellow River Basin, which can inform water resources management and climate change mitigation strategies.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51979014)
• Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Strategic Priority Research Program (Grant No. XDA19070203)
• Henan University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2020KYQD01)

Citation

@article{Yang2026Variation,
  author = {Yang, Yang and Wang, Lijuan and Sha, Sha and Ren, Xueyuan and Zhang, J},
  title = {Variation and Environmental Drivers of Summer Evapotranspiration in the Yellow River Basin Based on ERA5-Land Reanalysis},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrometeorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1175/jhm-d-25-0204.1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-25-0204.1}
}