Dataset of Drought Hazard for Different Levels in China Under RCP8.5

The hazard of droughts under climate change is primarily determined by the probability of occurrence based on the Composite Meteorological Drought Index (CI). According to the magnitude of the CI, droughts are classified into three levels: mild drought (-1.8 < CI ≤ -1.2), moderate drought (2.4 < CI ≤ -1.8), and severe drought (CI ≤ -2.4), indicating the respective drought levels and their impact severity. A drought event is defined as a continuous 10-day period with CI values at the mild drought threshold. Within each event, different drought levels are delineated based on the peak index value during the process. The frequency of occurrence for each drought level is calculated by determining the frequency of events corresponding to that level. Data format: xlsx.