Establishment of Palmer drought severity model for Yunnan Province: analysis of characteristics of drought disaster in 2010

An extraordinary drought disaster occurred in the spring of the year 2010 and brought about severe economic loss.Following the thinking of Palmer drought severity model and using Yunnan Province's meteorological and soil data,the corresponding drought model for Yunnan Province was established.Through the comparison of the Palemer index values with the calculation and the historical records of the actual drought/flood in Yunnan Province,it is discovered that the established Palmer drought severity model could reflect drought/flood situation well.The analyses of the characteristics of the extraordinary drought disaster in 2010 using this model show that,this drought disaster is an abrupt change of the recent 30-year drought process,and the severe drought area displays a spatial distribution of an east-west trend.The extreme drought area mainly distributes in the southeast part of Yunnan Province.