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Flood frequency in China's Poyang Lake region: trends and teleconnections
Author(s) -
Shankman David,
Keim Barry D.,
Song Jie
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.1307
Subject(s) - teleconnection , flood myth , china , environmental science , yangtze river , climatology , levee , stage (stratigraphy) , flooding (psychology) , hydrology (agriculture) , population , physical geography , geography , geology , el niño southern oscillation , demography , cartography , archaeology , psychology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , sociology , psychotherapist
Abstract Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province is the largest freshwater lake in China and is historically a region of significant floods. Annual events of peak lake stage and of severe floods have increased dramatically during the past few decades. This trend is related primarily to levee construction at the periphery of the lake and along the middle of the Changjiang (Yangtze River), which protects a large rural population. These levees reduce the area formerly available for floodwater storage resulting in higher lake stages during the summer flood season and catastrophic levee failures. The most severe floods in the Poyang Lake since 1950, and ranked in descending order of severity, occurred in 1998, 1995, 1954, 1983, 1992, 1973, and 1977. All of these floods occurred during or immediately following El Niño events, which are directly linked to rainfall in central China. The 2‐year recurrence interval for maximum annual lake stage during El Niño years is 1.2 m higher than during non‐El Niño years. The 10‐year recurrence interval is 1.4 m higher during El Niño years than during non‐El Niño years. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society.