Detecting Droughts in Southwest China from GPS Vertical Position Displacements

doi:10.11947/j.JGGS.2020.0305

Journal of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science ›› 2020, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (3): 50-58.doi: 10.11947/j.JGGS.2020.0305

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Detecting Droughts in Southwest China from GPS Vertical Position Displacements

Chaolong YAO¹, Zhicai LUO², Yueming HU^{1, 3, 4, 5}(), Changwei WANG¹, Rui ZHANG¹, Jinming LI¹

^1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
^2. MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurement, Institute of Geophysics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
^3. Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Land and Resources for Construction Land Transformation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
^4. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Land Use and Consolidation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
^5. Guangdong Province Land Information Engineering Technology Research Center, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642,China

Received:2019-11-14 Accepted:2020-05-14 Online:2020-09-20 Published:2020-09-30
Contact: HU Yueming E-mail:ymhu163@163.com
About author:Chaolong YAO (1986—), male, PhD, majors in the theory and applications of time-variable gravity field and GNSS.E-mail: clyao@scau.edu.cn
Supported by:
National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos(41604017);National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos(42004013);Guangdong Natural Science Foundation(2019A1515011268);Foundation of Young Creative Talents in Higher Education of Guangdong Province(2019KQNCX009);Open fund of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Spatial Information and Geomatics(19-050-11-03)

Abstract

Abstract:

The solid Earth responds elastically to terrestrial water storage (TWS)changes. Here global positioning system (GPS) vertical position data at 31 stations from the crustal movement observation network of China (CMONOC) from August 2010 to December 2016 are used to detect droughts in Southwest China. Monthly GPS vertical position displacements respond negatively to precipitation changes and TWS changes observed by gravity recovery and climate experiments(GRACE) as well as river water level variations. GPS vertical position anomalies (the non-seasonal term) are well correlated negatively (correlations of about -0.70) with the commonly used meteorological composite index (CI) in China and the GRACE drought severity index (GRACE-DSI),but less correlated with the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). Compared to CI, GPS vertical position anomalies have the advantage of detecting droughts caused by abrupt precipitation deficits in a short time. GRACE-DSI is less accurate in drought monitoring for some periods due to the missing data, while the severity of abrupt precipitation absent in some cases can be overestimated from SPEI with big variability. This study shows the reliability and advantages of GPS data in drought monitoring.

Key words: GPS vertical displacement; terrestrial water storage; GRACE; drought

Chaolong YAO, Zhicai LUO, Yueming HU, Changwei WANG, Rui ZHANG, Jinming LI. Detecting Droughts in Southwest China from GPS Vertical Position Displacements[J]. Journal of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, 2020, 3(3): 50-58.

Figures/Tables 11

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References 34

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Data type	Name				Time period	Spatial resolution
Hydrological data	GRACE TWSC				2010-08—2016-12	0.5° × 0.5°
Hydrological data	Water level		Pingshan Gangtuo		2010-08—2012-04 2010-08—2013-12	point point
Meteorological data	Precipitation				2010-08—2016-12	0.5° × 0.5°
Drought indices	GRACE-DSI	2010-08—2016-12		0.5° × 0.5°
	SPEI	2010-08—2015-12		0.5° × 0.5°
	CI	2010-08—2016-12		point

Drought classification	GRACE-DSI^[25]	SPEI^[27]	CI^[28]
Normal	-0.49~0.49	—	>-0.60
Mild drought	-0.79~-0.50	0~-0.99	-1.20~-0.60
Moderate drought	-1.29~-0.80	-1.49~-1.00	-1.80~-1.20
Severe drought	-1.59~-1.30	-1.99~-1.50	-2.40~-1.80
Extreme drought	-1.99~-1.60	<-2.00	—
Exceptional drought	<-2.00	—	<-2.40

Time period	Precipitation /mm	GRACE- DSI	CI	SPEI	GPS U /mm
The first stage (2011-04—2012-05)	-16.8	-0.39	-0.82	-0.53	2.51
The second stage (2012-10—2013-03)	-12.0	-0.08	-0.94	-0.78	2.57
The third stage (2015-05—07)	-32.1	0.24	-0.05	-0.66	0.45

Detecting Droughts in Southwest China from GPS Vertical Position Displacements

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