Analysis of flood generating mechanisms and flood nonstationarity in China

The frequency and magnitude of floods in China have changed considerably as a result of both natural and anthropogenic impacts. Global climate change, human activities (e.g., large-scale hydraulic engineering and rapid urbanization), and changes in the underlying surface of watersheds, have led to significant changes in flood properties, involving highly complex non-linear, nonstationary processes. China has been experiencing a period of rapid development, especially in coastal areas and megacities. The development of urbanization and construction of large-scale water conservancy projects continue to affect the hydrological processes of watersheds, thereby changing the formation mechanisms and frequency of floods. Research on flood variability in changing environments (climate change and impacts of human activities) is a key scientific problem at the heart of national water system research, but also a basic problem of regional water security assessment, with major requirements for risk management. Understanding flood-generating mechanisms is one of the key problems of flooding. Rapid urbanization and construction of large-scale water conservancy projects in China have been aggravating or changing the characteristics of flooding based on these mechanisms. It has become urgent to figure out the attribution of flood formation mechanisms and consider the impacts of extreme climate events and influences from strong anthropogenic activities like large engineering projects and rapid urbanization-induced land use changes. This research project will select watersheds of coastal areas and semi-arid area as research targets.