Comprehensive risk assessment of drought disasters during the entire growth period of summer maize in Henan province

Evaluating the comprehensive risk of drought disasters during the entire growth period of summer maize provides important scientific reference for drought resistance and disaster reduction in summer maize production. Taking Henan province as the research area, this study integrated multi-source data including meteorological observation data from meteorological stations, crop planting distribution data, digital elevation data, river network density data and vegetation coverage data. It analyzed the hazard of disaster-causing factors, sensitivity of disaster-prone environment and vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies, and systematically evaluated the occurrence characteristics and comprehensive risk of drought disasters during the entire growth period of summer maize in Henan Province. The results showed that the spatial distribution of the hazard index of drought disaster-causing factors during the entire growth period of summer maize in Henan Province was highly consistent with the total frequency of drought occurrence, both showing a gradual decrease from north to south. The average total frequency of drought occurrence in northern, western, central, eastern and southern Henan was 92.3%, 74.4%, 77.8%, 87.2% and 55.4% respectively, with mild and moderate drought as the main types, and the corresponding average hazard indices were 47.7, 36.7, 39.6, 44.2 and 26.1. The impact of disaster-prone environment on drought disasters was higher in the west and lower in the east, with the western Henan being the most significantly affected. The high-value areas of disaster-bearing body vulnerability were concentrated in the northwest of northern Henan, the northwest and southern parts of central Henan, and the northern part of southern Henan, while the southeast of southern Henan was the low-value area. The comprehensive risk of drought disasters during the entire growth period of summer maize in Henan province showed a spatial pattern of high in the north and low in the south as a whole. The high-risk areas were mainly distributed in the central and western parts of northern Henan, some areas in the northwest of western Henan, the northern part of central Henan and some areas in the northeast of eastern Henan, accounting for 16.4% of the total area of the region. Therefore, the drought resistance work of summer maize in Henan Province should focus on the northern high-risk areas, and take targeted preventive measures to effectively reduce the agricultural production losses caused by drought disasters.