From Parallel Disciplinary Approaches to Integrated Multidisciplinary Research

Hydrosphere Dynamics: Moving beyond static structures to quantitatively simulate hydrospheric processes for accurate prediction and management.

Hydrosphere Topology: From isolated water bodies to interconnected systems, revealing spatial structure, connectivity, and material transport pathways, providing a foundation for understanding the system dynamics.

Hydrosphere Informatics: Integrating remote sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), and big-data technologies to acquire, mine, and extract value from massive heterogeneous datasets, empowering intelligent decision-making.

Proposed the controllability principle of the hydrosphere system—the least constraint theorem—and revealed additional fundamental symmetries and novel conservation laws

Zhong D Y, Wang G Q. Least Constraint and Contact Dynamics of Stochastic Vector Bundles [J].Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2025, 201: 117143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chaos.2025.117143

Identified the existence of stable topological structures—atmospheric basins—from massive and complex atmospheric moisture source-sink relationships (AMSSRs)

Preliminary Findings: Based on the Eulerian atmospheric moisture tracking models, atmospheric basins—characterized by strong within-basin connectivity and weak cross-basin connectivity—were identified in complex atmospheric moisture source-sink networks

Open Questions: Do robust (model-insensitive) stable topological structures exist in massive and complex atmospheric moisture source-sink relationships (AMSSRs)? How sensitive are the identified structures to model choice?

Validated stable topological structures—atmospheric basins (ABs)—using a multi-model ensemble approach

Extracted global atmospheric moisture source-sink topological structures (AMSSRs)

Released the first global AMSSRAB dataset (AMSSRs and derived ABs) dataset based on a multi-model ensemble

Providing reliable data support for research on global hydrosphere structure

Zhang Y, Zhong D Y*, Cai R R, et al. A multi-model based dataset of global atmospheric moisture source-sink relationships and atmospheric basins [J]. Scientific Data, 2025, 12(1): 1842. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06123-0

Effectively characterized global and national patterns of green-water-recycle transformation based on hydrosphere topological structures

Xie D, Zhang Y, Zhang M X, & Zhong D Y*. Hydrological impacts of vegetation cover change in China through terrestrial moisture recycling [J]. Science of the Total Environment, 2024, 915: 170015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170015

Developed an analysis framework linking upper-tropospheric precursor signals to the intensity and frequency distribution of extreme precipitation events

Taking the North China Plain as an example for analysis:

Ural blocking (UB) and Silk Road pattern (SRP) are the primary precursor processes for extreme precipitation

The SRP is more strongly associated with higher-intensity extreme precipitation events (EPEs) than UB

Zhang M X, Zhang Y, Li T J, Wang Y Q, Zhong, D Y*. Unveiling critical upper-tropospheric dynamics conducive to extreme precipitation over the North China Plain. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2025, 130, e2025JD043902. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JD043902

Developed a large model for the hydrosphere based on its topological structures to support water-resources management and disaster prevention and mitigation

Application: Strategic planning for major functional zones, including afforestation and greening, desertification control, carbon sequestration, energy development, and value enhancement