Abstract:In summer 2022,an extreme drought event occurred in the Yangtze River basin.Based on the WRF-WVT water vapor tracking model,this study simulated the water cycle in the Yangtze River basin under the extreme drought conditions that occurred from June to August 2022,and analyzed the effects of evapotranspiration on local and non-local precipitation in the Yangtze River basin.The results show that the summer drought of 2022 led to a 100—150 mm reduction in land surface water storage in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from May to August that year.In general,about 45% of the evapotranspiration in the Yangtze River basin in June—August is formed in local and northern China precipitation,and the evapotranspiration from the Yangtze River basin mainly contributes to local precipitation in June,while the contribution to local and northern China precipitation is approximately equal in July and August.The total amount of local precipitation contributed by evapotranspiration in the Yangtze River basin decreases month by month to 8.2×107 m3 (average 91.2 mm throughout the basin),and the contribution of local evapotranspiration decreases with higher precipitation intensity,while the largest contribution to local precipitation occurs near the Sichuan basin(with the maximum exceeding 40%).The contribution of evapotranspiration from the Yangtze River basin to precipitation in North China increases from June to August,then decreases slightly,with a total of 5.3×107 m3 (with an average of 58.4 mm in North China),and the contribution of evapotranspiration from the Yangtze River basin increases with precipitation intensity.In summer 2022,the contribution of evapotranspiration from the Yangtze River basin to heavy rainfall both locally and in North China was about 12%.