Comparison of various drought indices for assessing drought status of the Northern Mekerra watershed, Northwest of Algeria

The territory of Czechia currently suffers from a long-lasting drought period which has been a subject of many studies, including the hydrological ones. Previous works indicated that the basin of the Morava River, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, is very prone to the occurrence of dry spells. It also applies to the development of various hydrological time series that often show decreases in the amount of available water. The purpose of this contribution is to extend the results of studies performed earlier and, using the most updated daily time series of discharge, to look at the situation of the so-called streamflow drought within the basin. 46 water-gauging stations representing the rivers of diverse catchment size were selected where no or a very weak anthropogenic influences are expected and the stability and sensitivity of profiles allow for the proper measurement of low flows. The selected series had to cover the most current period 1981-2018 but they could be much longer, which was considered beneficial for the next determination of the development direction. Various series of drought indices were derived from the original discharge series. Specifically, 7-, 15- and 30-day low flows together with deficit volumes and their durations were tested for trends using the modifications of the Mann– Kendall test that account for short-term and long-term persistence. In order to better reflect the drivers of streamflow drought, the indices were considered for summer and winter seasons separately as well. The places with the situation critical to the future water resources management were highlighted where substantial changes in river regime occur probably due to climate factors. Finally, the current drought episode that started in 2014 was put into a wider context, making use of the information obtained by the analyses.

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Drought indices and prediction models for winter wheat

CHINESE JOURNAL OF ECO-AGRICULTURE ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1011.2011.00860 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 860-865

Author(s):

Xi-Yan KANG ◽

Guang-Qin GU ◽

Yin-Shan SHI ◽

Guo-Qiang TIAN ◽

Yong-Li GU

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Drought Indices

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Documentary data and the study of past droughts: a global state of the art

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-14-1915-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 1915-1960 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Rudolf Brázdil ◽

Andrea Kiss ◽

Jürg Luterbacher ◽

David J. Nash ◽

Ladislava Řezníčková

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Documentary Evidence ◽

Climatic Trends ◽

Instrumental Observations ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Epigraphic Evidence ◽

Administrative Evidence

Abstract. The use of documentary evidence to investigate past climatic trends and events has become a recognised approach in recent decades. This contribution presents the state of the art in its application to droughts. The range of documentary evidence is very wide, including general annals, chronicles, memoirs and diaries kept by missionaries, travellers and those specifically interested in the weather; records kept by administrators tasked with keeping accounts and other financial and economic records; legal-administrative evidence; religious sources; letters; songs; newspapers and journals; pictographic evidence; chronograms; epigraphic evidence; early instrumental observations; society commentaries; and compilations and books. These are available from many parts of the world. This variety of documentary information is evaluated with respect to the reconstruction of hydroclimatic conditions (precipitation, drought frequency and drought indices). Documentary-based drought reconstructions are then addressed in terms of long-term spatio-temporal fluctuations, major drought events, relationships with external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, socio-economic impacts and human responses. Documentary-based drought series are also considered from the viewpoint of spatio-temporal variability for certain continents, and their employment together with hydroclimate reconstructions from other proxies (in particular tree rings) is discussed. Finally, conclusions are drawn, and challenges for the future use of documentary evidence in the study of droughts are presented.

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Multi-Dimensional Drought Assessment in Abbay/Upper Blue Nile Basin: The Importance of Shared Management and Regional Coordination Efforts for Mitigation

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13091835 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1835

Author(s):

Yared Bayissa ◽

Semu Moges ◽

Assefa Melesse ◽

Tsegaye Tadesse ◽

Anteneh Z. Abiy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Severe Drought ◽

Nile Basin ◽

Blue Nile ◽

Blue Nile Basin ◽

Small Streams ◽

Upper Blue Nile Basin

Drought is one of the least understood and complex natural hazards often characterized by a significant decrease in water availability for a prolonged period. It can be manifested in one or more forms as meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and/or socio-economic drought. The overarching objective of this study is to demonstrate and characterize the different forms of droughts and to assess the multidimensional nature of drought in the Abbay/ Upper Blue Nile River (UBN) basin and its national and regional scale implications. In this study, multiple drought indices derived from in situ and earth observation-based hydro-climatic variables were used. The meteorological drought was characterized using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) computed from the earth observation-based gridded CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station) rainfall data. Agricultural and hydrological droughts were characterized by using the Soil Moisture Deficit Index (SMDI) and Standardized Runoff-discharge Index (SRI), respectively. The monthly time series of SMDI was derived from model-based gridded soil moisture and SRI from observed streamflow data from 1982 to 2019. The preliminary result illustrates the good performance of the drought indices in capturing the historic severe drought events (e.g., 1984 and 2002) and the spatial extents across the basin. The results further indicated that all forms of droughts (i.e., meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological) occurred concurrently in Abbay/Upper Blue Nile basin with a Pearson correlation coefficient ranges from 0.5 to 0.85 both Kiremt and annual aggregate periods. The concurrent nature of drought is leading to a multi-dimensional socio-economic crisis as indicated by rainfall, and soil moisture deficits, and drying of small streams. Multi-dimensional drought mitigation necessitates regional cooperation and watershed management to protect both the common water sources of the Abbay/Upper Blue Nile basin and the socio-economic activities of the society in the basin. This study also underlines the need for multi-scale drought monitoring and management practices in the basin.

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Projection of Future Drought Characteristics under Multiple Drought Indices

Water ◽

10.3390/w13091238 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1238

Author(s):

Muhammad Imran Khan ◽

Xingye Zhu ◽

Xiaoping Jiang ◽

Qaisar Saddique ◽

Muhammad Saifullah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Series Data ◽

Natural Phenomenon ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Drought Severity ◽

Severe Drought ◽

Drought Analysis ◽

Songhua River ◽

Drought Intensity ◽

Drought Characteristics ◽

Rcp 8.5

Drought is a natural phenomenon caused by the variability of climate. This study was conducted in the Songhua River Basin of China. The drought events were estimated by using the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) which are based on precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) data. Furthermore, drought characteristics were identified for the assessment of drought trends in the study area. Short term (3 months) and long term (12 months) projected meteorological droughts were identified by using these drought indices. Future climate precipitation and temperature time series data (2021–2099) of various Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were estimated by using outputs of the Global Circulation Model downscaled with a statistical methodology. The results showed that RCP 4.5 have a greater number of moderate drought events as compared to RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5. Moreover, it was also noted that RCP 8.5 (40 events) and RCP 4.5 (38 events) showed a higher number of severe droughts on 12-month drought analysis in the study area. A severe drought conditions projected between 2073 and 2076 with drought severity (DS-1.66) and drought intensity (DI-0.42) while extreme drying trends were projected between 2097 and 2099 with drought severity (DS-1.85) and drought intensity (DI-0.62). It was also observed that Precipitation Decile predicted a greater number of years under deficit conditions under RCP 2.6. Overall results revealed that more severe droughts are expected to occur during the late phase (2050–2099) by using RDI and SPI. A comparative analysis of 3- and 12-month drying trends showed that RDI is prevailing during the 12-month drought analysis while almost both drought indices (RDI and SPI) indicated same behavior of drought identification at 3-month drought analysis between 2021 and 2099 in the research area. The results of study will help to evaluate the risk of future drought in the study area and be beneficial for the researcher to make an appropriate mitigation strategy.

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Assessment of the Dissimilarities of EDI and SPI Measures for Drought Determination in South Africa

Water ◽

10.3390/w13010082 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 82

Author(s):

Omolola M. Adisa ◽

Muthoni Masinde ◽

Joel O. Botai

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Standardized Precipitation Index ◽

Drought Monitoring ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Drought Severity ◽

Pearson Correlation Coefficient ◽

Drought Duration

This study examines the (dis)similarity of two commonly used indices Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) computed over accumulation periods 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month (hereafter SPI-1, SPI-3, SPI-6, and SPI-12, respectively) and Effective Drought Index (EDI). The analysis is based on two drought monitoring indicators (derived from SPI and EDI), namely, the Drought Duration (DD) and Drought Severity (DS) across the 93 South African Weather Service’s delineated rainfall districts over South Africa from 1980 to 2019. In the study, the Pearson correlation coefficient dissimilarity and periodogram dissimilarity estimates were used. The results indicate a positive correlation for the Pearson correlation coefficient dissimilarity and a positive value for periodogram of dissimilarity in both the DD and DS. With the Pearson correlation coefficient dissimilarity, the study demonstrates that the values of the SPI-1/EDI pair and the SPI-3/EDI pair exhibit the highest similar values for DD, while the SPI-6/EDI pair shows the highest similar values for DS. Moreover, dissimilarities are more obvious in SPI-12/EDI pair for DD and DS. When a periodogram of dissimilarity is used, the values of the SPI-1/EDI pair and SPI-6/EDI pair exhibit the highest similar values for DD, while SPI-1/EDI displayed the highest similar values for DS. Overall, the two measures show that the highest similarity is obtained in the SPI-1/EDI pair for DS. The results obtainable in this study contribute towards an in-depth knowledge of deviation between the EDI and SPI values for South Africa, depicting that these two drought indices values are replaceable in some rainfall districts of South Africa for drought monitoring and prediction, and this is a step towards the selection of the appropriate drought indices.

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Assessment of the performance of drought indices for explaining crop yield variability at the national scale: Methodological framework and application to Mozambique

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106692 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 246 ◽

pp. 106692

Author(s):

Ronnie J. Araneda-Cabrera ◽

María Bermúdez ◽

Jerónimo Puertas

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Yield Variability ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Methodological Framework ◽

National Scale

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Hydrological response to different time scales of climatological drought: an evaluation of the Standardized Precipitation Index in a mountainous Mediterranean basin

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-9-523-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 523-533 ◽

Cited By ~ 156

Author(s):

S. M. Vicente-Serrano ◽

J. I. López-Moreno

Keyword(s):

Time Scales ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Standardized Precipitation Index ◽

Precipitation Index ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Long Time ◽

The Standardized Precipitation Index ◽

Hydrological Droughts ◽

Different Time Scales

Abstract. At present, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is the most widely used drought index to provide good estimations about the intensity, magnitude and spatial extent of droughts. The main advantage of the SPI in comparison with other indices is the fact that the SPI enables both determination of drought conditions at different time scales and monitoring of different drought types. It is widely accepted that SPI time scales affect different sub-systems in the hydrological cycle due to the fact that the response of the different water usable sources to precipitation shortages can be very different. The long time scales of SPI are related to hydrological droughts (river flows and reservoir storages). Nevertheless, few analyses empirically verify these statements or the usefulness of the SPI time scales to monitor drought. In this paper, the SPI at different time scales is compared with surface hydrological variables in a big closed basin located in the central Spanish Pyrenees. We provide evidence about the way in which the longer (>12 months) SPI time scales may not be useful for drought quantification in this area. In general, the surface flows respond to short SPI time scales whereas the reservoir storages respond to longer time scales (7–10 months). Nevertheless, important seasonal differences can be identified in the SPI-usable water sources relationships. This suggests that it is necessary to test the drought indices and time scales in relation to their usefulness for monitoring different drought types under different environmental conditions and water demand situations.

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