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The Chinese government's use of fiscal policy, which includes fiscal income and spending, is crucial in its fight against environmental pollution and climate change. Innovation‐driven has arisen as a new alternative to reconcile economic success with environmental conservation in light of tighter resource restrictions and the suggestion of the Chinese High‐quality Development policy. The paper uses an econometric model to examine the connection between institutional resource consumption efficiency and carbon neutrality, using a data set consisting of Chinese inter‐provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 as a research sample; fiscal decentralization is also discussed as a potential moderating factor. Collaborative innovation positively boosts ecological efficiency and produces geographical spillovers, and the findings suggest so long as the economic distance is considered. When it comes to increasing ecological efficiency, collaborative innovation plays a more important role than financial decentralization alone. Among these is the improvement of carbon neutrality, which is best achieved via the joint promotion of ecological efficiency and industrial organizations. By reducing the intensity of the positive effect of innovative cooperation on ecological efficiency, the moderating effect suggests that fiscal decentralization is a critical factor in this relationship. Promoting China's ecological efficiency necessitates a fair distribution of local budgetary spending. China should also actively encourage the degree of synergy between institutional resource consumption efficiency and associated institutions to improve eco‐efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate changes have led to frequent and recurrent heat stress, which has seriously affected the world maize production. The experiment presented in this paper was carried out during the maize‐growing season in 2021 and 2022 at the Huang–Huai–Hai Region Maize Science and Technology Innovation Center (36°09′N, 117°09′E) in Tai'an, Shandong province, China. The test site is located in the semi‐humid warm temperate continental monsoon climate zone, soil is brown loam. We selected different heat‐sensitive maize varieties: heat‐tolerant variety Zhengdan 958 (ZD958) and heat‐sensitive variety Xianyu335 (XY335) to study the stress effects of high temperature on the development of tassel in the key stage of its differentiation (the 12‐leaf stage, V12). We found that exposure to heat stress during the V12 stage significantly reduced the tassel size and the anther dehiscence area, making it difficult to disperse pollen, thus effectively reducing pollen production. In addition, heat stress had significant negative effects on pollen development, resulting in deformed pollen and lower pollen viability and germination rate. Our results also showed that heat stress significantly increased the activities of key reactive oxygen species‐scavenging enzymes including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase, and that the malondialdehyde and H2O2 content in tassels exposed to heat stress were significantly higher than those control group, where it should be noted that for the XY335, these effects were more pronounced than for the ZD958. The endogenous hormone content of tassels exhibited a variety of responses. After heat stress, the zeatin and salicylic acid content in tassels of both maize varieties were significantly lower than those in the respective control groups, while the abscisic acid and gibberellin acid content were significantly higher. With respect to the jasmonic acid and 3‐indoleacetic acid content, the two maize varieties exhibited opposite responses: in tassels from ZD958 plants subjected to heat stress were higher than those in the respective control group, while in tassels from XY335 plants, they were lower. The observed changes in protective enzyme activities and endogenous hormone contents induced by heat stress significantly affected the development of maize tassels and significantly reduced the amount, activity and germination rate of pollen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought seriously endangers the development of agro‐pastoral ecotone in arid and semi‐arid regions. However, drought evolution characteristics of semi‐arid sandy grassland and its drivers are not well understood in the complex climate change context. Thus, in this paper, the revised standardized precipitation evaporation indices on one‐month (SPEI‐1) and growing‐season (SPEI‐6) scale, flash drought and dry spells (DS) were calculated as drought indicators, and the temporal variabilities and meteorological drivers of drought in Horqin Sandy Land during the growing period (April–September) from 2007 to 2021 were studied. The results showed that SPEI‐1 and SPEI‐6 exhibited negative trends and periodic change. This drought aggravation was manifested in increased grades and numbers of drought months. Flash droughts can occur every month during the growing season. And its occurrence was not only positively correlated with all drought events in frequency but also synchronized in time. The increased number of DS showed an asymmetrical shift towards 7‐day‐and‐longer DS. SPEI sensitivity to precipitation (P) was noticeably higher than to atmospheric evapotranspiration demand (AED) at both monthly and growing season scales. SPEI sensitivity to AED was modulated by P amounts, which was higher during low P period. Apart from the amounts of P and AED, their temporal variability also strongly determined how they affect the drought severity. P was also the main driver for flash drought and long DS, but AED with larger amount and higher variability is the reason for their aggravation. Our results demonstrate the complexity of drought intensification in semi‐arid sandy grasslands and highlight the important role of AED anomalies in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanjiang Plain is the largest marsh distribution area of China, and marshes in this region significantly affect regional carbon cycle and biodiversity protection. The vegetation phenology of marsh significantly affects the energy exchange and carbon cycle in that region. Under the influence of global climatic change, identifying the changes in phenology and their responses to climatic variation in marshes of Sanjiang Plain is essential for predicting the carbon stocks of marsh ecosystem in that region. Using climate and NDVI data, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal variations in the start (SOS), end (EOS), and length (LOS) of vegetation growing season and explored the impacts of climatic variation on vegetation phenology in marshes of Sanjiang Plain. Results showed that the SOS advanced by 0.30 days/a, and EOS delayed by 0.23 days/a, causing LOS to increase significantly (p <.05) by 0.53 days/a over marshes of Sanjiang Plain. Spatially, the large SOS advance and EOS delay resulted in an obvious increasing trend for LOS in northern Sanjiang Plain. The rise of spring and winter temperatures advanced the SOS and increased the LOS, and the rise in temperature in autumn delayed the EOS in marshes of Sanjiang Plain. Our findings highlight the necessity of considering seasonal climatic conditions in simulating marsh vegetation phenology and indicate that the different influences of climatic variation on marsh vegetation phenology in different regions should be fully considered to assess the marsh ecosystem response to climatic change in Sanjiang Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Basin (YRB), a key biodiversity area and a major economic zone in China, the biodiversity of the area is confronted with severe challenges. In this paper, we analyzed species distribution patterns based on a dataset with 18,538 seed plant species to identify hotspots and evaluate conservation effectiveness and gaps of the YRB. We calculated distribution patterns of species richness with the top 5% richness algorithm and complementarity algorithm, and reconstructed a phylogenetic tree and elucidated spatial phylogenetics. There were 214 hotspot grid cells covering only 6.8% of the study region, but containing 88% seed plant species. Then, we conducted correlation analysis on distribution patterns of different algorithms and species categories, which showed moderate or weak correlations between the top 5% richness algorithm and complementary algorithm. Conservation effectiveness analysis indicated there were 116 hotspot grid cells (accounting for 73.6% of the total species) protected by current conservation networks and there are many conservation gaps remaining. Finally, we used the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to predict suitable habitat areas of threatened species under current and future climate scenarios. Prediction analysis results indicated future expansion of suitable habitat to the southeast, and reduction in the central and western portions of the study area. When we considered anthropogenic areas, the suitable habitat was severely decreased, indicating the importance of optimizing the layout of conservation networks and comprehensive biodiversity conservation planning in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Understanding the formation and maintenance of biogeographical breaks is fundamental for developing analyses related to biodiversity and conservation. Biogeographical patterns along China's coast are changing dramatically in the face of climate change and alterations in land‐use. In this paper, we sought to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the formation and maintenance of a biogeographical barrier on China's coast. Location: Coastline of northern China. Methods: We have reviewed literature of research related to biogeographical and phylogeographical patterns of intertidal macrobenthos along the coast of Jiangsu Province and adjacent areas, summarized the distribution patterns and biogeographical breakers. We have also reviewed literature about the processes and drivers on coastal biogeographical breaks, to clarify the mechanisms acting to the northward shift of the biogeographical break. Results: The Yangtze (Changjiang) River Estuary Biogeographical Barrier (YREBB) at 30°–31°N, which serves as a coastal biogeographical boundary for the Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific Province and the Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific Province for marine species, has moved northward to ~33°–34°N due to the changes in habitat continuity, oceanographic circulation and climate factors. Consequently, a new biogeographic barrier for intertidal macrobenthos, the Subei Biogeographical Barrier (SBB) on the central coast of Jiangsu Province, has emerged. Main conclusions: The formation and maintenance of the SBB are closely related to the larval dispersal potential, larval settlement success and post‐settlement population establishment, all of which have been profoundly influenced by anthropogenic environmental changes. The northward shift of the YREBB and the appearance of the SBB provide an excellent model system for investigating the impacts of climate change and land‐use change on coastal biogeographic patterning and for clarifying the mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of biogeographical barriers in the face of the unprecedented environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrological projections provided by the outputs of Global Climate Models (GCMs) combining hydrological models include multi‐source uncertainties, which may challenge the formulation of relevant adaption and mitigation policies. In this paper, the overall uncertainty and the relative contribution of each uncertainty component were investigated for hydrological projections over 408 watersheds in China by using 3 shared socioeconomic pathway emission scenarios (SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP5‐8.5), 21 GCMs, 8 bias correction methods, 4 hydrological models, and 2 sets of optimized hydrological model parameters. The results show that the total uncertainty (T) is mainly contributed by uncertainty related to global climate models (G), with the mean percentage ranging from 60.4 to 64.1%, followed by the interaction uncertainties among all components, with the mean percentage ranging from 22.0 to 26.4%. The uncertainty contribution of hydrological models (H) (6.1–9.4%) ranks third, followed by emission scenarios (S) (2.9–5.9%) and bias correction methods (B) (0.2–1.1%). The uncertainty contribution of the optimized hydrological model parameters (P) (0.2–0.3%) is almost negligible. In terms of spatial variability, the relative contribution of uncertainty related to global climate models (G) is the highest in the near future for northern China (67.5–70.6%) and in the far future for southern China (66.1–66.7%). However, it was found to be lower for the Tibetan Plateau and northwestern China (45.3–57.9%) in the near and far future. The relative contribution of hydrological model uncertainty is higher for southwestern and northwestern China and the Tibetan Plateau (7.2–19.5%) and lower for northern, eastern, and southern China (2.5–6.6%). This study highlights the importance of including multiple GCMs and hydrological models in hydrological impact studies to consider their overall uncertainty. The development of global climate models and hydrological models is still the best way to reduce the uncertainty of climate change impact studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of the runoff to lake has become a common phenomenon of the inland lakes in northwest China, and the quantitative calculation of the driving factors affecting the runoff change has always been a challenge in lake research. In this pursuit, the present study was performed on Lake Daihai as an example, based on the relevant data from 1960 to 2018. The quantitative calculations of the runoff driving factors of Lake Daihai from 1982 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2017 were based on the slope change ratio of cumulative quantity (SCRCQ). It was concluded that human activities were the main factors affecting runoff change after 1982. The SCRCQ method was improved, which could carry out the quantitative calculations on the driving factors affecting the runoff change of the Lake Daihai from 1961 to 2017 on a yearly basis. The results show that the dominant factor of runoff changes in Lake Daihai was found to be the climate change before 1975, and it changed into human activities after 1975. Finally, based on the comparative analysis of the results of SCRCQ and improved SCRCQ, the advantages of improved SCRCQ were discussed. In addition, the reasons for the variation of the runoff to lake dominated by different factors in different periods for Lake Daihai were analyzed. Key Points: This paper analyzes the influence of climate change and human activities on the change in runoff volume of Lake Daihai according to the slope change ratio of cumulative quantity (SCRCQ)The SCRCQ method was improved, which could carry out the quantitative calculations on the driving factors affecting the runoff change of the Lake Daihai from 1961 to 2017 on a yearly basisThe reasons for the variation of the runoff to lake dominated by different factors in different periods for Lake Daihai were analyzed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lidar is an active remote sensing instrument, and it has been widely used in the detection of atmospheric environmental parameters and meteorological parameters. In recent years, climate change has been widely concerned by the public, and the corresponding atmospheric detection technology has also been developed rapidly. Atmospheric Lidar has been developed rapidly in China, and has achieved good research achievements. The research progress and development status of Lidar for atmospheric detection in recent years are introduced and summarized in this invited paper. The advantages and disadvantages of all kinds of atmospheric detection Lidars and their applications in different detection objects are comprehensively introduced in this article. Finally, the bottlenecks of Lidar technology are summarized, and the development trend of Lidar is also prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solar radiation or insolation at a specific locality on the Earth's surface is determined by the distance of this point from the sun and by the angle with which the radiation hits the earth's surface. The theory that variations in the earth's orbit determine the amount of radiation and therefore the climate which is the Milankovitch Cycle. In non‐marine lacustrine rift basin, the changes of climate can be recorded by the palaeontology, and it also plays an important role in controlling lacustrine fluctuations. The lacustrine fluctuations are indicated by coastal onlap, which is the landward or lake‐ward onlap of non‐marine coastal deposits. In this paper, based on borehole data, wireline logs, seismic datasets, biostratigraphic data and palaeontology, the lacustrine fluctuation curve can be reconstructed from the onlap of lacustrine deposits in non‐marine sequences. The durations and magnitudes of these changes can be used to construct charts showing cycles of the relative rising and falling of lake level. In addition, the changes of lake level can also be reflected by the palaeontology such as pollen. The living conditions and distributions of pollen can be a good indicator for climate changes and lacustrine fluctuations in an a non‐marine setting. The calculation of the Milankovitch Cycle can be determined by the GR log in the study area which keeps a record of cycle changes. All climatic changes and lacustrine fluctuations are mainly resulted from the Milankovitch Cycles, and therefore, through the reconstruction of lacustrine fluctuations, climate changes and the Milankovitch Cycle, the correspondences among them can be clearly addressed. All the results can contribute a lot in theory research in the study area and lead to a new focus in practical hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cryogenian is a critical period in the history of the Earth. It is marked by multiple extreme climate changes that caused alternating global glacial and interglacial intervals. These dramatically changed the sedimentary system, and metal ores and source rocks distributed widely during this period. Therefore, studying the Cryogenian stratigraphic framework and sedimentary basins is important to improve the stratigraphic resolution for metal mineral and hydrocarbon prospecting and exploration in China. This review paper firstly divides three tectonic‐stratigraphic regions in China in the Cryogenian, including the tectonic‐stratigraphic regions of Great South China, Xingmeng‐Tarim, and North China. Secondly, geochronologic data and geological records are combined to clearly depict the Cryogenian sedimentary sequence of continental blocks and micro‐continental blocks in different tectonic‐stratigraphic regions. The results were used to propose a new comparison scheme of stratigraphy for the Cryogenian in China. Finally, according to differences of sedimentary evolution and tectonic evolvement, sedimentary basins and their lithofacies paleogeography are identified and summarized, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planned resettlement is being widely considered as a response to the impacts of climate change. As many millions of people are expected to be displaced in the coming decades, scholars and policymakers are searching for precedence to inform their research and planning, particularly from experiences of Development‐Induced Displacement and Resettlement (DIDR). Nowhere in the world is DIDR and other closely related forms of planned resettlement more prevalent than in China: an estimated 78 million people have been displaced by development projects over the last six decades. While planned resettlement has consistently been shown to cause impoverishment, the Chinese state views it as the answer to a multitude of social ills including poverty, environmental damage, low levels of domestic consumption, and most recently, climate change, providing impetus to the normalisation of resettlement as adaptation. This paper examines the prospects for just outcomes in resettlement projects by examining distributive justice at multiple scales in existing resettlement practice in China. It finds that due to the interplay between resettlement and questions of procedural justice, prospects for just outcomes are quite limited, and that in order to achieve fair adaptation, alternatives to planned resettlement should be emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northwestern China has a wealth of endemic species, which has been hypothesized to be affected by the complex paleoclimatic and paleogeographic history during Quaternary. In this paper, we used Gymnocarpos przewalskii as a model to address the evolutionary history and current population genetic structure of species in northwestern China. We employed two chloroplast DNA fragments (rps16 and psbB‐psbI), one nuclear DNA fragment (ITS), and simple sequence repeat (SSRs) to investigate the spatial genetic pattern of G. przewalskii. High genetic diversity (cpDNA: hS = 0.330, hT = 0.866; ITS: hS = 0.458, hT = 0.872) was identified in almost all populations, and most of the population have private haplotypes. Moreover, multimodal mismatch distributions were observed and estimates of Tajima's D and Fu's FS tests did not identify significantly departures from neutrality, indicating that recent expansion of G. przewalskii was rejected. Thus, we inferred that G. przewalskii survived generally in northwestern China during the Pleistocene. All data together support the genotypes of G. przewalskii into three groups, consistent with their respective geographical distributions in the western regions—Tarim Basin, the central regions—Hami Basin and Hexi Corridor, and the eastern regions—Alxa Desert and Wulate Prairie. Divergence among most lineages of G. przewalskii occurred in the Pleistocene, and the range of potential distributions is associated with glacial cycles. We concluded that climate oscillation during Pleistocene significantly affected the distribution of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically analyses the construction of eco-cities as technological fixes to concerns over climate change, Peak Oil, and other scenarios in the transition towards 'green capitalism'. It argues for a critical engagement with new-build eco-city projects, first by highlighting the inequalities which mean that eco-cities will not benefit those who will be most impacted by climate change: the citizens of the world's least wealthy states. Second, the paper investigates the foundation of eco-city projects on notions of crisis and scarcity. Third, there is a need to critically interrogate the mechanisms through which new eco-cities are built, including the land market, reclamation, dispossession and 'green grabbing'. Lastly, a sustained focus is needed on the multiplication of workers' geographies in and around these 'emerald cities', especially the ordinary urban spaces and lives of the temporary settlements housing the millions of workers who move from one new project to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The biases in the Global Circulation Models ( GCMs) are crucial for understanding future climate changes. Currently, most bias correction methodologies suffer from the assumption that model bias is stationary. This paper provides a non-stationary bias correction model, termed residual-based bagging tree ( RBT) model, to reduce simulation biases and to quantify the contributions of single models. Specifically, the proposed model estimates the residuals between individual models and observations, and takes the differences between observations and the ensemble mean into consideration during the model training process. A case study is conducted for 10 major river basins in Mainland China during different seasons. Results show that the proposed model is capable of providing accurate and stable predictions while including the non-stationarities into the modelling framework. Significant reductions in both bias and root mean squared error are achieved with the proposed RBT model, especially for the central and western parts of China. The proposed RBT model has consistently better performance in reducing biases when compared with the raw ensemble mean, the ensemble mean with simple additive bias correction, and the single best model for different seasons. Furthermore, the contribution of each single GCM in reducing the overall bias is quantified. The single model importance varies between 3.1% and 7.2%. For different future scenarios ( RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5), the results from RBT model suggest temperature increases of 1.44, 2.59, and 4.71 °C by the end of the century, respectively, when compared with the average temperature during 1970-1999. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquiring freshwater resources is a necessary component of sustainable human settlement subject to increasing pressure from population and climate changes. This sometimes scarce resource primarily comes from rivers, and international river basins ( IRBs), where watersheds and watercourses cross political boundaries, are often spaces of great political tension and conflict worldwide. Such conflict potential has garnered interest from a wide range of research communities, and each emphasises public access to hydrologic data as integral to successful international management of IRBs. However; these hydrologic data, especially measurements of river flow rate, are often closely guarded state secrets. Satellites have been cited as a key technology set to challenge this data monopoly that have yet been unable to calculate river flow rate without some form of guarded ancillary data. Now, at-many-stations hydraulic geometry ( AMHG) offers a means of circumventing data limitations without any a priori information, and the forthcoming NASA/ CNES Surface Water and Ocean Topography ( SWOT) satellite also promises to estimate flow rates solely from its novel measurements following launch. In this paper, we explore how these newly available estimates of river flow rate could reconfigure water-management and interstate relations in IRBs, and demonstrate AMHG, for two cases: the Ganges- Brahmaputra and Mekong. For these basins we find that satellite flow rate retrievals will likely reinforce and favour state-level negotiations of water resource governance. Also, satellite flow retrievals can have the direct, concrete effect of improving hydrologic understanding of the upstream Ganges- Brahmaputra, a sorely needed advance that will positively benefit millions of Bangladeshis and affect state-level interactions between India, China, and Bangladesh. Finally, we avoid offering prescriptive water management solutions for each case, as local stakeholders will ultimately determine if and how such satellite retrievals will be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an investigation into palaeoflooding along the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River valley, China. Based on the sedimentary evidence of the palaeohydrological regime, two bedsets of palaeoflood slackwater deposits (SWDs) were identified interbedded within the Holocene loess-soil sequence along the riverbanks of the Ankang east reach. Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and stratigraphical correlation with previously dated sites were used to reconstruct the chronology of the palaeoflood events. The results show that the palaeoflood events represented by SWD1 occurred between 13 000 and 12 400 a, coincident with the climatic transition from the Bølling-Allerød (BL+AL) stage to the Younger Dryas (YD) event. The palaeoflood events recorded by SWD2 were dated to 1000-800 a, corresponding to the later stages of the North Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127) and the subsequent South Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279), which was a time of climatic decline according to historical documents. Palaeoflood discharges were estimated using the step-backwater method, and the peak discharges were estimated to be in the range 35 200-47 400 m3 s-1. These results are of significance to our understanding of the regional hydrological response to global climatic change, the utilization of water resources, hydraulic engineering, flood control and disaster reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a mixed-method approach to investigate smallholder perceptions of climate change in the Loess Plateau region of China. We combine qualitative and quantitative research methods with climate data analysis to gauge the climatic changes smallholders have perceived over the last 30 years, as well as how these changes have been experienced. At two research sites, each method produced markedly different results. Drawing on the work of feminist political ecologists and other geographers, we suggest that the dissonance between data sets generated using different research methods arises because each method produces knowledge that is partial and situated. To explain the contradictions between smallholder perceptions of climate change across the qualitative and quantitative methods and their disagreement with the climate record, we adopt aspects of assemblage theory and the dwelling perspective to suggest that smallholder knowledge of climate change is structured through their observations of and interactions with dynamic, networked socio-natural assemblages. We argue that a better understanding of the conduits through which perceptions and experiences of climate change come into being, and hence how climate knowledge is shaped, is necessary to account for the multiple epistemologies through which climate change is known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT High-resolution tree-ring records covering past centuries in the western Sichuan Plateau of China are scarce, yet essential for developing a complete understanding of the regional patterns of climate change for the Tibetan plateau. This paper presents a temperature reconstruction for the Wolong Natural Reserve of the western Sichuan Plateau based on a tree-ring width chronology of a cypress species ( Sabina saltuaria) endemic to the Tibetan plateau. The annual (prior October to current September) temperature reconstruction, which spans from 1840 to 2011, was developed using a linear regression model. The reconstruction explains 54.1% of the actual temperature variance during the calibration period from 1956 to 2010. The noteworthy warming periods of the reconstruction occurred between 1864-1882 and 1927-1960, while the most pronounced cold episodes were found between 1886-1926, 1788-1822, and 1961-1996. Spectral analysis revealed the existence of multi-decadal, decadal, and annual cycles that might correspond to the related cycles of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, solar activity, and ENSO-type variability, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Heavy rain events or rainstorms of various scales often occur in Hong Kong from April to September. In extremes cases, they lead to serious landslides and flash floods resulting in loss of life, and damage to property and infrastructure. With climate change, extreme rain events are projected to be more frequent and more intense in this region. A system to gauge and label the severity of rainstorms would be useful for identifying and communicating extreme conditions in warning and disaster prevention operations. In parallel, a better understanding of the characteristics of rainstorms would also be important for impact assessments and engineering design purposes. This paper formulates a practical framework to index the magnitude and severity of rainstorms in Hong Kong. An index termed as the Severity Index combining the magnitude of different rainstorm attributes is devised for quantifying the overall severity of rainstorms. This index is flexible to allow tuning for specific applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gao Fen 7 (GF‐7) satellite is China's first submeter, high‐resolution Earth observation and remote sensing satellite for natural resource monitoring, land surveying, and other industrial applications in China. The GF‐7 laser altimeter system is the successor of the ZiYuan3‐02 (ZY3‐02 satellite) laser altimeter. The key objective of the GF‐7 laser altimetry system is to provide high‐precision ground elevation control points that assist in optical imaging to achieve 1:10000 mapping in China. This paper introduces the GF‐7 laser altimeter system payload specifications, mission objectives, in‐orbit calibration plan, data products, and service policy. In the future, the GF‐7 laser altimeter system will also serve multidisciplinary and professional applications through its precise elevation measurement capabilities. In addition, it will play a vital role in Earth observation, climate change monitoring, and environmental protection. Plain Language Summary: Spaceborne laser altimeters are widely used for planet surface measurements due to their high range accuracy. This paper details the GF‐7 laser altimeter system, which is China's first formal spaceborne laser altimeter system for Earth observations. This laser altimeter system will be used in scientific experiments for the first time in China. GF‐7 laser altimeter system is the first to be equipped with laser footprint cameras and a laser optical axis surveillance camera. The GF‐7 satellite will be launched in October 2019, and the scientific experiments will begin in November. All the data it gets will be released globally. In the future, these data will help researchers from different disciplines around the world to conduct scientific experiments and monitor the Earth's resources. The GF‐7 laser altimeter system will play a vital role in global climate change monitoring, environmental protection, disaster warning, etc. The content presented in this article will help students, researchers, and engineers in the fields of geography, oceanography, and glaciology understand and use GF‐7 satellite laser data, which will be of great significance. Key Points: A new laser altimeter system design consisting of a laser altimeter, two laser footprint cameras, and a laser optical axis surveillance camera equipped with the Gao Fen 7 satellite is introducedThe application of the Gao Fen 7 laser altimeter system including ground control point measurement, polar ice sheet monitoring, and forest biomass estimation is presentedScientific experiments on the Gao Fen 7 laser altimeter system to be performed in November 2019 are given. Six levels of data products are listed and will be provided to users worldwide [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]