Abstract: The Copula function was used to analyze the annual compound events of heat and drought in North China, which can provide reference for agricultural water management and disaster prevention and mitigation in North China. Based on the daily maximum temperature and precipitation data of 36 meteorological stations in North China from 1960 to 2019, the year-by-year heat intensity and drought intensity were identified, the Copula function was introduced to construct a two-dimensional joint cumulative probability distribution function of heat intensity and drought intensity, and the return period of compound events of heat and drought in different grades were analyzed to assess the occurrence characteristics of the compound events. The results showed that when fitting the marginal distributions of annual number of heat days and drought intensity, the GEV function worked best at more stations; the most applied Copula function was the Symmetrised Joe-Clayton function when combining annual number of heat days and drought intensity in two dimensions; compared with high temperature intensity, drought intensity had a greater effect on the magnitude of the joint return period of compound events. North China is more prone to compound events with high heat intensity in the southwest and drought intensity in the south-central part of the country. The leading factors of compound events in North China vary from region to region, and different measures need to be taken to mitigate the damage caused by compound events in different regions.

Key words: North China, Heat, Drought, Compound event, Copula function