Evidence of a 22-year Cycle of Drought in China Related to the Hale Solar Cycle

In this paper, by using spectral analysis and superposed-epoch analysis based on the data of “Yearly Charts of Dryness/Wetness in China for the Last 500 Years Period”, the evidence of 22-year cycle of drought in China related to the Hale solar cycle is studied and some facts are found as follows: ① The 22-year cycle of drought generally exists in the region to the east of 105oE in China, particularly in the regions between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. ② The 22-year cycle of drought is closely related to the sunspot magnetic cycle and their phase angle varies from place to place. Drought usually reaches a maximum about 6—10 years after the peak year of the even numbered sunspot cycle. ③ The most severe drought in a 50-year cycle occurs about 3—4 years before or after the peak year of the even numbered sunspot cycle