Drought is one of the most frequent meteorological disasters, and has exerted significant impacts on the livelihoods and economy of the Koshi River Basin (KRB). In this study, we assessed drought patterns using the Crop Water Shortage Index (CWSI) based on the MOD16 product for the period between 2000 and 2014. The results revealed that the CWSI based on the MOD16 product can be act as an indicator to monitor the characteristics of the drought. Significant spatial heterogeneity of drought was observed in the basin, with higher CWSI values downstream and upstream than in the midstream. The midstream of the KRB was dominated by light drought, moderate drought occurred in the upstream, and the downstream was characterized by severe drought. The monthly CWSI during one year in KRB showed the higher CWSI between March to May (pre-monsoon) and October to December (post-monsoon) rather than June to September (monsoon), and the highest was observed in the month of April, suggesting that precipitation plays the most important role in the mitigation of CWSI. Additionally, the downstream and midstream showed a higher variation of drought compared to the upstream in the basin. This research indicates that the downstream suffered severe drought due to seasonal water shortages, especially during the pre-monsoon, and water-related infrastructure should be implemented to mitigate losses caused by drought.
The purpose of this study is to explore what are the influencing factors on resettled farmer’s satisfaction and occupancy under the policy of the balance between urban construction land increasing and rural construction land decreasing in Xinjin County, Chengdu City. Questionnaires, statistical analysis and logistic regressions were employed. The results indicate that the higher educated farmers will be more satisfied with the relocation areas. An increase in the number of public facilities and the associated maintenance costs will decrease the resettled farmer’s satisfaction. Farmers who have moved to new communities are more satisfied with infrastructure, supporting facilities and property management, especially the living environment. The main tasks completed by farmers are the tillage land and to do work for their new community. The positive factors that contribute to the famer’s satisfaction, include land-rights guarantees, compensation for land consolidation, sewage treatment and the living environment. In contrast, public facilities, commercial service networks and resettled area’s maintenance are negative factors for farmer’s satisfaction. Meanwhile, the key factors to promoting harmony between urban and rural construction are to establish relevant laws and regulations, reasonable operation and management mechanisms, farmer-rights protection mechanisms, and to protect famer household income, as well as to improve agricultural production and farmer’s non-agricultural employment opportunity.