Miao Zhang

I am an Associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor at the School of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST). I received my Ph.D. from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley.

Research interests

• Global change and drought evolution

• Soil moisture memory under climate change

• Hybrid physics–ML frameworks for drought prediction

I leverage satellite observations, land surface models, and deep learning approaches to understand and predict drought processes and their ecological impacts.

Graduate Student Opportunities

We welcome students from meteorology, hydrology, vegetation ecology, computational science, and related disciplines who are enthusiastic about interdisciplinary research.

Students are encouraged to explore frontier scientific questions in an open and collaborative research environment while developing strong skills in scientific research, academic writing, and scholarly communication.

Email: mzhang@nuist.edu.cn

Publications

•  Zhang, M., Yuan, X., Zeng, Z.Z., Pan, M., Wu, P.L., Xiao, J., Keenan, T.F. (2025). A pronounced decline in northern vegetation resistance to flash droughts from 2001 to 2022. Nature Communications, 16(2984). link(ESI highly cited paper）

•  Zhang, M., Yuan, X., Otkin, J. A., & Ji, P. (2022). Climate warming outweighs vegetation greening in intensifying flash droughts over China. Environmental Research Letters, 17(054041). link

• Zhang, M., & Yuan, X. (2020). Crucial role of natural processes in detecting human influence on evapotranspiration by multisource data analysis. Journal of Hydrology, 580 (124350). link

• Zhang, M., & Yuan, X. (2020). Rapid reduction in ecosystem productivity caused by flash droughts based on decade long FLUXNET observations. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 24, ‏ 5579-5593. link

• Zhang, M., Yuan, X., & Otkin A., J. (2020). Remote sensing of the impact of flash drought events on terrestrial carbon dynamics over China. Carbon Balance and Management, 15(20). link

•  Hao, Y., Yuan, X., & Zhang, M.(2024). Enhanced relationship between seasonal soil moisture droughts and vegetation under climate change over China. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 358 (110258). link

• Ji, P., Yuan, X., Jiao, Y., & Zhang, M. (2024). On the reliability of 12 high-resolution precipitation products for process based hydrological modeling in China. Journal of Hydrology, 628(130598). link

•  Liu, H., Yuan, X., & Zhang, M. (2022). Unraveling human influence on evapotranspiration over East Asian monsoon river basins by using GRACE/GRACE-FO data and land surface models. Journal of Hydrology, 605. link

•  Yuan, X., Wang, L., Wu, P., Ji, P., Sheffield, J., & Zhang, M. (2019). Anthropogenic shift towards higher risk of flash drought over China. Nature Communications, 10(1). link

•  Yuan, Xing,Zhang, M., Wang, L., & Zhou, T. (2017). Understanding and seasonal forecasting of hydrological drought in the Anthropocene. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(11), 5477–5492. link