Characteristics of flash droughts and their association with compound meteorological extremes in China: Observations and model simulations.

Flash droughts have gained considerable public attention due to the imminent threats they pose to food security, ecological safety, and human health. Currently, there has been little research exploring the projected changes in flash droughts and their association with compound meteorological extremes (CMEs). In this study, we applied the pentad-mean water deficit index to investigate the characteristics of flash droughts and their association with CMEs based on observational data and downscaled model simulations.

Substantial increase in abrupt shifts between drought and flood events in China based on observations and model simulations.

Drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) refers to the rapid transformation between droughts and floods, posing serious threats to ecological security, food production, and human safety. Previous studies have insufficiently investigated DFAA events at large regional scales using high-resolution observations and model simulations. In this study, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index was used to construct the DFAA magnitude index, which considers the asymmetric effects of drought and flood alternations.