Multiscaling properties of drought conditions in China

The scaling and multifractal properties of drought conditions of different regions in China were explored by employing multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. Results show that the long-range correlation of the drought series in northern China is stronger than that in southern China, and that scaling properties vary at different time-scales. The scaling behaviors of the drought series in all of the regions are separated by a common crossover time-scale of around 1.5 years. The three regions of north China, southwest China, and the Yangtze River basin exhibited an additional crossover at a 9-year scale. The drought time series are stationary and long-range correlated at a time-scale of 1.5 years in all the regions and at a time-scale longer than 9 years in northern China, southwest China, and the Yangtze River basin. They are however non-persistent at a 1.5-to-9-year scale. Meanwhile, the h(q) curves indicate that the drought series are multifractal.