Abstract:
By adopting mathematical statistics, ArcGIS spatial analysis method, and other methods, five major meteorological disasters were systematically explored such as drought, flood, hail, cold damage, plant diseases and insect pests in Henan province from BC 221 to AD 2000. The results showed that: major meteorological disasters occurred frequently during the past two millennia, with a total of 1929 times, and the frequency varies for different disasters. Among them, the most frequent disasters are drought and flood. Before AD1911, the floods were the most frequent meteorological disasters in Henan province, totally 617 times, with an average of 3.4 occurrences per year; followed by droughts, totally 522 times; the number of occurrences with frost was the least, only 127 times. And the frequency of major meteorological disasters was mainly distributed in the northwest and southern part of Henan province before AD1911. Since AD1911, the drought was the most frequent meteorological disaster in Henan province, totally 76 times, followed by floods; while the frost occurred only 45 times. And the northern and southeastern parts were the meteorological disaster-prone areas in Henan province during this period. Through the analysis of the spatial correlation of each meteorological disasters in different period, it is found that the drought disaster frequency-occurring district has transferred since AD1911, and the frequency-occurring district of hail and low temperature and frost disasters just have a smaller transferred. Conversely, the frequency-occurring district of flood and insect pest disasters have no obviously transferred in different periods.