Droughts, as the important driver of eco-hydrological dynamics, are predicted to increase in frequency and severity with global warming. Prolonged droughts can put great pressure on water access and directly have a negative impact on ecosystem safety. For example, the 2016 extreme drought in the Horn of Africa left nearly 20 million people experiencing food and water shortages. A major drought occurred in the humid regions of southern China during the autumn-winter-spring of 2021-2022, resulting in drinking water difficulties for 80 million people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Yangtze River basin of south China is also experiencing severe droughts due to extreme heat and rainfall shortage, causing a series of agricultural, socioeconomic, environmental, ecological and compound disasters. With the changing environment, increases in drought frequency and severity can often be observed in different climatic zones. An in-depth understanding of droughts and their impacts on the eco-hydrological processes (e.g., water quantity and quality) is essential for drought prevention and mitigation, and for sustainable water resources management. However, unclear drought definition and equivocal drought monitoring and assessment methods make it difficult to assess the impacts of drought on the eco-hydrological processes accurately.
This Research Topic seeks new drought theories to build drought monitoring and assessment approaches and aims to advance understanding of the impacts of droughts on water quantity and quality under changing environments. We welcome contributors to share their new ideas and studies on drought concepts and corresponding monitoring and assessment methods, the impact of droughts on the water-food-energy nexus, ecosystem safety, hydrochemistry, and hydro-biological processes from the perspective of new theories and technologies. Any research that explores the water resources and water ecology systems regarding the impacts of droughts and their coupled relationships, as well as the driving mechanism for these processes to support decision-making aimed at addressing water safety challenges in the changing environment, is encouraged.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Drought’s definition and description method;
• Interaction of droughts and eco-hydrological processes;
• Drought propagation (onset, intensification, recovery, and termination) and the water quantity-quality response;
• Optimize the water quantity-quality management during the droughts;
•Water quality elements (e.g., C, N, and P) migration and transformation during droughts;
• Impacts of climate warming on the droughts and eco-hydrological processes, and their coping strategies.
Droughts, as the important driver of eco-hydrological dynamics, are predicted to increase in frequency and severity with global warming. Prolonged droughts can put great pressure on water access and directly have a negative impact on ecosystem safety. For example, the 2016 extreme drought in the Horn of Africa left nearly 20 million people experiencing food and water shortages. A major drought occurred in the humid regions of southern China during the autumn-winter-spring of 2021-2022, resulting in drinking water difficulties for 80 million people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Yangtze River basin of south China is also experiencing severe droughts due to extreme heat and rainfall shortage, causing a series of agricultural, socioeconomic, environmental, ecological and compound disasters. With the changing environment, increases in drought frequency and severity can often be observed in different climatic zones. An in-depth understanding of droughts and their impacts on the eco-hydrological processes (e.g., water quantity and quality) is essential for drought prevention and mitigation, and for sustainable water resources management. However, unclear drought definition and equivocal drought monitoring and assessment methods make it difficult to assess the impacts of drought on the eco-hydrological processes accurately.
This Research Topic seeks new drought theories to build drought monitoring and assessment approaches and aims to advance understanding of the impacts of droughts on water quantity and quality under changing environments. We welcome contributors to share their new ideas and studies on drought concepts and corresponding monitoring and assessment methods, the impact of droughts on the water-food-energy nexus, ecosystem safety, hydrochemistry, and hydro-biological processes from the perspective of new theories and technologies. Any research that explores the water resources and water ecology systems regarding the impacts of droughts and their coupled relationships, as well as the driving mechanism for these processes to support decision-making aimed at addressing water safety challenges in the changing environment, is encouraged.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Drought’s definition and description method;
• Interaction of droughts and eco-hydrological processes;
• Drought propagation (onset, intensification, recovery, and termination) and the water quantity-quality response;
• Optimize the water quantity-quality management during the droughts;
•Water quality elements (e.g., C, N, and P) migration and transformation during droughts;
• Impacts of climate warming on the droughts and eco-hydrological processes, and their coping strategies.
