Drought and flood are the main disasters of Eastern China. During the summers of 2001 and 2003 , the severe drought and flood occurred respectively in the Yangtze River - Huaihe River basin. In order to investigate the causes, the daily atmospheric heating source/sink < Q1 > over Asian monsoon area is computed by using the thermodynamic equation and the NCEP/NCAR re-analyses data of 2001 and 2003, and then its quasi-30 -70-day low-frequency oscillation ( LFO ) is got by the Fourier transform according to the significance periodic variation of the < Q1> which is got using the spectral analysis in three key areas. Then the differences of the < Q1> and its LFO in the two summers are analyzed, furthermore the relationship between the < Q1> LFO in some key areas and the delayed rainfall in China is investigated in the summer of 2003. The result shows that: On the one hand, the process should is that the meridional and zonal propagation of the < Q1> LFO is different → the North-South scheme of the < Q1> LFO over East Asia is different during the drought/flood periods of the Yangtze River - Huaihe River basin → the North-South distribution of the < Q1 > is also different in the summers of 2001 and 2003. On the other hand, there are the significance correlations between the changes of the < Q1 > LFO over the middle-southern Tibetan Plateau and the South China Sea from May 1 to August 6 and the delay rainfall of the Yangtze River - Huaihe River basin from May 11 to August 16. While the stronger heating source/sink of the < Q1 > LFO is over the middle southern Tibetan Plateau, the heavier/lighter rainfall maybe appears in the Yangtze River - Huaihe River basin, but it is reverse over the South China Sea. At one time, the heating source/sink of the < Q1 > LFO over the South China Sea is also significantly negatively correlated with the rainfall in the eastern Tibetan Plateau in summer. Therefore, the difference of the characteristics of < Q1 > LFO over Asian monsoon area can lead to the abnormal summer drought/flood in the Yangtze River -Huaihe River valley of China.
low-frequency oscillation (LFO)the Tibetan Plateauatmospheric heating source/sinkdrought/flood of the Yangtze River - Huaihe River basin