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Drought Evaluation Under Climate Change Condition

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2026 | Viewed by 1386

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
Interests: spatiotemporal pattern

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Focus: This Special Issue will concentrate on the comprehensive evaluation of drought under the backdrop of climate change. It will explore the multifaceted impacts of changing climatic patterns on drought occurrence, severity, and duration. Researchers will explore how alterations in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other climatic variables interact to exacerbate or mitigate drought conditions.

Scope: The scope encompasses a wide range of geographical regions, from arid and semi-arid zones traditionally more prone to drought to regions newly experiencing water stress due to climate change. It will cover various drought-affected sectors, including agriculture, water resources management, ecosystems, and human health. Methodologically, it will incorporate field studies, remote sensing analyses, modeling techniques, and socio-economic surveys to provide a holistic view.

Purpose: The primary purpose is to synthesize the latest knowledge and advancements in drought evaluation. By combining diverse research, we aim to equip policymakers, practitioners, and researchers with the tools and understanding to develop effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. We also seek to raise awareness about addressing drought in a changing climate.

Relation to the Existing Literature: The existing literature on drought and climate change is extensive but fragmented. This Special Issue will usefully supplement it in several ways. Firstly, it will provide updated and region-specific case studies that reflect the most recent climate trends. Many previous works have relied on historical data, while this issue will focus on the current and projected changes. Secondly, integrating multiple disciplinary approaches will bridge the gaps between hydrological, ecological, agricultural, and social science research. For example, it will explore the physical aspects of drought, socio-economic consequences, and feedback loops between them. Lastly, it will offer a platform for comparing and contrasting different methodological frameworks used in drought evaluation, facilitating the identification of best practices.

Contribution to Sustainability: Drought is a major threat to sustainability. In the context of water resources, sustainable management requires accurate drought evaluation. By understanding the patterns and impacts of drought, we can develop more efficient water allocation strategies, such as implementing water-saving technologies in agriculture and optimizing reservoir operations. It helps preserve biodiversity by identifying vulnerable habitats and implementing conservation measures during drought periods. From a socio-economic perspective, it enables the formulation of policies that support affected communities, like providing financial aid and alternative livelihood options. Overall, this Special Issue provides the knowledge base for making informed decisions that enhance long-term sustainability.

Dr. Yanfeng Wu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • climate change
  • drought evaluation
  • water resources management
  • agricultural impacts
  • ecosystem resilience
  • socio-economic consequences
  • remote sensing for drought
  • modeling drought
  • adaptation strategies
  • sustainable development

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 5293 KB  
Article
Evaluating Droughts and Trends in Data-Scarce Regions: A Case Study of Palestine Using ERA5, Standardized Precipitation Index, Bias Correction, Classical and Innovative Trend Approaches
by Ahmad Abu Arra and Eyüp Şişman
Water 2025, 17(18), 2780; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17182780 - 20 Sep 2025
Viewed by 181
Abstract
The increasing droughts and climate change effects and their frequencies worldwide are a critical threat, especially to regions facing water scarcity and wars. Therefore, comprehensive drought evaluation and trend analysis are crucial for water resources management, climate change, and drought mitigation plans. Classical [...] Read more.
The increasing droughts and climate change effects and their frequencies worldwide are a critical threat, especially to regions facing water scarcity and wars. Therefore, comprehensive drought evaluation and trend analysis are crucial for water resources management, climate change, and drought mitigation plans. Classical drought evaluation methods predominantly rely on in situ observations, often limited or unavailable in many regions, particularly in developing countries such as Palestine. This study investigates the temporal and spatial characteristics and trends of drought across Palestine between 1940 and 2025. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time in the literature, bias-corrected ERA5 precipitation data are employed alongside ground-based observations to assess drought using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at multiple timescales (1-, 6-, and 12-month). Trend detection was performed through conventional statistical approaches, including the Mann–Kendall test, Spearman’s Rho, and Sen’s slope (SS), as well as the Frequency-Innovative Trend Analysis (F-ITA) method. Furthermore, the performance of the original and bias-corrected ERA5 precipitation datasets was evaluated against observational data using statistical metrics. The main findings indicated that the bias correction significantly improves the accuracy of the ERA5 precipitation data. Also, droughts in SPI-1 and SPI-6 ranged from 4 to 5 months, the minimum at which a drought can be classified. In addition, the average drought duration at a 12-month timescale ranged between 14 and 16 months. At short (SPI-1) and medium (SPI-6) timescales, no significant trends were found, whereas at the long timescale (SPI-12) all stations showed a significant decreasing SPI trend, such as −5.611 in Jenin, reflecting intensifying drought conditions. For F-ITA, the frequencies of extreme drought classification increased from 0.4% in the first period to 2.18% in the second period. The findings of this research have important implications for drought management, water policy planning, and climate adaptation in Palestine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Evaluation Under Climate Change Condition)
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20 pages, 26018 KB  
Article
An Accuracy Assessment of the ESTARFM Data-Fusion Model in Monitoring Lake Dynamics
by Can Peng, Yuanyuan Liu, Liwen Chen, Yanfeng Wu, Jingxuan Sun, Yingna Sun, Guangxin Zhang, Yuxuan Zhang, Yangguang Wang, Min Du and Peng Qi
Water 2025, 17(14), 2057; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17142057 - 9 Jul 2025
Viewed by 571
Abstract
High-spatiotemporal-resolution remote sensing data are of great significance for surface monitoring. However, existing remote sensing data cannot simultaneously meet the demands for high temporal and spatial resolution. Spatiotemporal fusion algorithms are effective solutions to this problem. Among these, the ESTARFM (Enhanced Spatiotemporal Adaptive [...] Read more.
High-spatiotemporal-resolution remote sensing data are of great significance for surface monitoring. However, existing remote sensing data cannot simultaneously meet the demands for high temporal and spatial resolution. Spatiotemporal fusion algorithms are effective solutions to this problem. Among these, the ESTARFM (Enhanced Spatiotemporal Adaptive Reflection Fusion Model) algorithm has been widely used for the fusion of multi-source remote sensing data to generate high spatiotemporal resolution remote sensing data, owing to its robustness. However, most existing studies have been limited to applying ESTARFM for the fusion of single-surface-element data and have paid less attention to the effects of multi-band remote sensing data fusion and its accuracy analysis. For this reason, this study selects Chagan Lake as the study area and conducts a detailed evaluation of the performance of the ESTARFM in fusing six bands—visible, near-infrared, infrared, and far-infrared—using metrics such as the correlation coefficient and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The results show that (1) the ESTARFM fusion image is highly consistent with the clear-sky Landsat image, with the coefficients of determination (R2) for all six bands exceeding 0.8; (2) the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (R2 = 0.87, RMSE = 0.023) and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) (R2 = 0.93, RMSE = 0.022), derived from the ESTARFM fusion data, are closely aligned with the real values; (3) the evaluation and analysis of different bands for various land-use types reveal that R2 generally exhibits a favorable trend. This study extends the application of the ESTARFM to inland water monitoring and can be applied to scenarios similar to Chagan Lake, facilitating the acquisition of high-frequency water-quality information. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Evaluation Under Climate Change Condition)
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