Drought and flood characteristics in the farming-pastoral ecotone of northern China based on the Standardized Precipitation Index

Author(s):  
Huicong Cao ◽  
Dandan Yan ◽  
Yuelin Ju
2013 ◽  
Vol 295-298 ◽  
pp. 2116-2120
Author(s):  
Jian Fen Liu ◽  
Xing Nan Zhang ◽  
Hui Min Wang

Many drought and flood indices have been developed, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is one which has various temporal scales together to form an overall judgment of drought and flood and can be applied easily to different locations to identify and monitor drought and flood. Take Nanjing, China in the study as an example to analysis drought and flood variation by computing SPI values of four time scales including 3-months, 6-months, 12-months and 24-months, applying precipitation data from 1946-2000 of the study area. The results demonstrated SPI can be appropriate to analyze drought and flood variation of Nanjing, while the precipitation data were divided into three stages(1946-1963,1964-1981,1982-2000), the frequencies of various drought and flood classes from various time scales are different, particularly 12-months and 24-months. The time series is longer, the frequencies are more reliable and the differences more little.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 523-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Vicente-Serrano ◽  
J. I. López-Moreno

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.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 2359-2373 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Dutra ◽  
F. Di Giuseppe ◽  
F. Wetterhall ◽  
F. Pappenberger

Abstract. Vast parts of Africa rely on the rainy season for livestock and agriculture. Droughts can have a severe impact in these areas, which often have a very low resilience and limited capabilities to mitigate drought impacts. This paper assesses the predictive capabilities of an integrated drought monitoring and seasonal forecasting system (up to 5 months lead time) based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The system is constructed by extending near-real-time monthly precipitation fields (ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis and the Climate Anomaly Monitoring System–Outgoing Longwave Radiation Precipitation Index, CAMS-OPI) with monthly forecasted fields as provided by the ECMWF seasonal forecasting system. The forecasts were then evaluated over four basins in Africa: the Blue Nile, Limpopo, Upper Niger, and Upper Zambezi. There are significant differences in the quality of the precipitation between the datasets depending on the catchments, and a general statement regarding the best product is difficult to make. The generally low number of rain gauges and their decrease in the recent years limits the verification and monitoring of droughts in the different basins, reinforcing the need for a strong investment on climate monitoring. All the datasets show similar spatial and temporal patterns in southern and north-western Africa, while there is a low correlation in the equatorial area, which makes it difficult to define ground truth and choose an adequate product for monitoring. The seasonal forecasts have a higher reliability and skill in the Blue Nile, Limpopo and Upper Niger in comparison with the Zambezi. This skill and reliability depend strongly on the SPI timescale, and longer timescales have more skill. The ECMWF seasonal forecasts have predictive skill which is higher than using climatology for most regions. In regions where no reliable near-real-time data is available, the seasonal forecast can be used for monitoring (first month of forecast). Furthermore, poor-quality precipitation monitoring products can reduce the potential skill of SPI seasonal forecasts in 2 to 4 months lead time.


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