A method for constructing a hydrological drought index integrated with GNSS and meteorological data

doi:10.11947/j.AGCS.2025.20250119

Abstract

Abstract:

Hydrological drought events significantly impact socioeconomic development and ecosystem stability. Current hydrological drought studies often focus solely on changes in either surface or groundwater resources. To address this limitation, this study proposes a novel method for constructing a hydrological drought index, termed the GNSS cooperated with water balance principle hydrological drought index (GWHDI). This index integrates changes in both surface and groundwater resources based on the water balance principle. Specifically, vertical crustal displacement (VCD) derived from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is used to reflect groundwater changes, while the combined temporal variability of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration serves as a surface water indicator. Additionally, multichannel singular spectrum analysis (MSSA) is employed to determine the optimal weights for different hydrological variables. The method was tested using data from 302 GNSS stations in the northwestern native United States from 2006 to 2020. The standardized runoff index (SRI) was used as a reference, and comparisons were made with the GNSS-based hydrological drought index (HDI) and the drought severity index (DSI). Results indicate that the GWHDI shows strong consistency with the SRI across different spatial and temporal scales, with average temporal and spatial correlations of 0.71 and 0.52, respectively, which are significantly better than those of HDI and DSI. Furthermore, the GWHDI reaches its minimum in summer, indicating a higher likelihood of hydrological drought during this period. These findings demonstrate that the proposed GWHDI is robust and reliable, offering a new approach for regional water resource management and hydrological drought monitoring and early warning.

Key words: GNSS, water balance principle, hydrological drought, vertical crustal displacement, standardized runoff index

CLC Number:

P228

Qingzhi ZHAO, Lulu CHANG, Yibin YAO, Haojie LI. A method for constructing a hydrological drought index integrated with GNSS and meteorological data[J]. Acta Geodaetica et Cartographica Sinica, 2025, 54(7): 1192-1205.

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站点	R²		RMS		MAE
站点	地表水文干旱指标	地下水文干旱指标	地表水文干旱指标	地下水文干旱指标	地表水文干旱指标	地下水文干旱指标
P113	0.67^**	0.36^**	0.79	1.58	0.68	1.32
P100	0.69^**	0.43^**	0.77	1.64	0.63	1.35
P682	0.61^**	0.54^**	0.87	1.71	0.72	1.39
ALUT	0.70^**	0.52^**	0.75	1.68	0.62	1.40
平均值	0.67	0.46	0.80	1.65	0.66	1.37

季节	R²			RMS			MAE
季节	HDI	DSI	GWHDI	HDI	DSI	GWHDI	HDI	DSI	GWHDI
春	0.21^*	0.21^*	0.83^**	1.90	1.11	0.96	1.65	0.92	0.82
夏	0.20^*	0.21^*	0.62^**	1.36	1.12	0.50	1.17	0.94	0.39
秋	0.22^*	0.26^*	0.77^**	1.51	1.22	0.75	1.31	0.98	0.65
冬	0.20^*	0.22^*	0.63^**	1.32	1.22	1.01	1.10	1.00	0.85
平均值	0.21	0.23	0.71	1.52	1.17	0.81	1.31	0.96	0.68