Abstract: Using the daily meteorological data of 21 meteorological stations in the Hexi corridor from 1965 to 2017, SPEI at different time scales was calculated based on the Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration model, and the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of meteorological drought in the Hexi corridor, such as the change trend, occurrence frequency and duration, were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) in the past 53 years, the SPEI of the Hexi corridor showed a significant upward trend on the monthly, seasonal and annual scales, which indicated that the drought had a significant weakening trend, but the drought lasted for a long time at individual stations, and the drought lasted for 11 months in 2013 in Wuwei. (2) The Hexi corridor had a trend of wetting in four seasons, and it was significantly wet in winter. Among them, the in spring, summer and autumn presented unstable drought changes, while the sudden change in winter around 1989 indicated the trend from drought to wet. (3) The spatial distribution of drought in the Hexi corridor had obviously regional characteristics. The arid area was mainly concentrated in the northwest, and the humid area was mainly concentrated in the south. (4) The frequency variety law of different grades drought occurance at different time scales was consistent .The frequency of mild to moderate droughts was much higher than that of severe and extreme droughts, and the spatial distribution characteristics of relatively high frequency areas of severe and extreme droughts on the annual and seasonal scales were opposite to those of mild to moderate droughts. Generally, the drought in the Hexi corridor had weakened in the past 53 years, which was beneficial to the local agricultural production and ecological environment. However, the climate change in this region is complex, and local drought needs to be paid attention to.

Key words: SPEI, Penman-Monteith equation, Spatial-temporal characteristics, Meteorological drought, Hexi corridor