Multivariate drought frequency estimation using copula method in Southwest China

摘要

Drought over Southwest China occurs frequently and has an obvious seasonal characteristic. Proper management of regional droughts requires knowledge of the expected frequency or probability of specific climate information. This study utilized k-means classification and copulas to demonstrate the regional drought occurrence probability and return period based on trivariate drought properties, i.e., drought duration, severity, and peak. A drought event in this study was defined when 3-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) was less than -0.99 according to the regional climate characteristic. Then, the next step was to classify the region into six clusters by k-means method based on annual and seasonal precipitation and temperature and to establish marginal probabilistic distributions for each drought property in each sub-region. Several copula types were selected to test the best fit distribution, and Student t copula was recognized as the best one to integrate drought duration, severity, and peak. The results indicated that a proper classification was important for a regional drought frequency analysis, and copulas were useful tools in exploring the associations of the correlated drought variables and analyzing drought frequency. Student t copula was a robust and proper function for drought joint probability and return period analysis, which is important for analyzing and predicting the regional drought risks.