scholarly journals Using an integrated hydrological model to estimate the usefulness of meteorological drought indices in a changing climate

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 4159-4175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane von Gunten ◽  
Thomas Wöhling ◽  
Claus P. Haslauer ◽  
Daniel Merchán ◽  
Jesus Causapé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Index ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Small Catchment ◽  
Hydrological Impacts ◽  
Hydrological Variable ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Hydrological Variables

Abstract. Droughts are serious natural hazards, especially in semi-arid regions. They are also difficult to characterize. Various summary metrics representing the dryness level, denoted drought indices, have been developed to quantify droughts. They typically lump meteorological variables and can thus directly be computed from the outputs of regional climate models in climate-change assessments. While it is generally accepted that drought risks in semi-arid climates will increase in the future, quantifying this increase using climate model outputs is a complex process that depends on the choice and the accuracy of the drought indices, among other factors. In this study, we compare seven meteorological drought indices that are commonly used to predict future droughts. Our goal is to assess the reliability of these indices to predict hydrological impacts of droughts under changing climatic conditions at the annual timescale. We simulate the hydrological responses of a small catchment in northern Spain to droughts in present and future climate, using an integrated hydrological model calibrated for different irrigation scenarios. We compute the correlation of meteorological drought indices with the simulated hydrological time series (discharge, groundwater levels, and water deficit) and compare changes in the relationships between hydrological variables and drought indices. While correlation coefficients linked with a specific drought index are similar for all tested land uses and climates, the relationship between drought indices and hydrological variables often differs between present and future climate. Drought indices based solely on precipitation often underestimate the hydrological impacts of future droughts, while drought indices that additionally include potential evapotranspiration sometimes overestimate the drought effects. In this study, the drought indices with the smallest bias were the rainfall anomaly index, the reconnaissance drought index, and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. However, the efficiency of these drought indices depends on the hydrological variable of interest and the irrigation scenario. We conclude that meteorological drought indices are able to identify years with restricted water availability in present and future climate. However, these indices are not capable of estimating the severity of hydrological impacts of droughts in future climate. A well-calibrated hydrological model is necessary in this respect.

scholarly journals Using an integrated hydrological model to estimate the usefulness of meteorological drought indices in a changing climate

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane von Gunten ◽  
Thomas Wöhling ◽  
Claus P. Haslauer ◽  
Daniel Merchán ◽  
Jesus Causapé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Small Catchment ◽  
Hydrological Impacts ◽  
Hydrological Variable ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Hydrological Variables

Abstract. Droughts are serious natural hazards, especially in semi-arid regions. They are also difficult to characterize. Various summary metrics representing the dryness level, denoted drought indices, have been developed to quantify droughts. They typically lump meteorological variables and can thus directly be computed from the outputs of regional climate models in climate-change assessments. While it is generally accepted that drought risks in semi-arid climates will increase in the future, quantifying this increase using climate model outputs is a complex process which depends on the choice and the accuracy of the drought indices, among other factors. In this study, we compare seven meteorological drought indices that are commonly used to predict future droughts. Our goal is to assess the reliability of these indices to predict hydrological impacts of droughts under changing climatic conditions. We simulate the hydrological responses of a small catchment in northern Spain to droughts in present and future climate, using an integrated hydrological model, calibrated for different irrigation scenarios. We compute the correlation of meteorological drought indices with the simulated hydrological times series (discharge, groundwater levels, and water deficit), and we compare changes in the relationships between hydrological variables and drought indices. While correlation coefficients are similar for all tested land-uses and climates, the relationship between drought indices and hydrological variables often differs between present and future climate. Drought indices based solely on precipitation often underestimate the hydrological impacts of future droughts, while drought indices that additionally include potential evapotranspiration sometimes overestimate the drought effects. In this study, the drought indices with the smallest bias were: the rainfall anomaly index, the reconnaissance drought index, and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. However, the efficiency of these drought indices depends on the hydrological variable of interest and the irrigation scenario. We conclude that meteorological drought indices are able to identify the timing of hydrological impacts of droughts in present and future climate. However, these indices are not capable of estimating the severity of hydrological impacts of droughts in future climate. A well-calibrated hydrological model is necessary in this respect.

scholarly journals Climate Variability Impact on the Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Drought and Aridityin Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (15) ◽  
pp. 5015-5033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruqayah Mohammed ◽  
Miklas Scholz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Homogeneity Test ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Reconnaissance Drought Index ◽  
Semi Arid

AbstractInvestigating the spatiotemporal distribution of climate data and their impact on the allocation of the regional aridity and meteorological drought, particularly in semi-arid and arid climate, it is critical to evaluate the climate variability effect and propose sufficient adaptation strategies. The coefficient of variation, precipitation concentration index and anomaly index were used to evaluate the climate variability, while the Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope were applied for trend analysis, together with homogeneity tests. The aridity was evaluated using the alpha form of the reconnaissance drought index (Mohammed & Scholz, Water Resour Manag 31(1):531–538, 2017c), whereas drought episodes were predicted by applying three of the commonly used meteorological drought indices, which are the standardised reconnaissance drought index, standardized precipitation index and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. The Upper Zab River Basin (UZRB), which is located in the northern part of Iraq and covers a high range of climate variability, has been considered as an illustrative basin for arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. There were general increasing trends in average temperature and potential evapotranspiration and decreasing trends in precipitation from the upstream to the downstream of the UZRB. The long-term analysis of climate data indicates that the number of dry years has temporally risen and the basin has experienced succeeding years of drought, particularly after 1994/1995. There was a potential link between drought, aridity and climate variability. Pettitt’s, SNHT, Buishand’s and von Neumann’s homogeneity test results demonstrated that there is an evident alteration in the mean of the drought and aridity between the pre- and post-alteration point (1994).

scholarly journals Evaluation of Drought Indices Based on Thermal Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration over the Continental United States

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 2025-2044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha C. Anderson ◽  
Christopher Hain ◽  
Brian Wardlow ◽  
Agustin Pimstein ◽  
John R. Mecikalski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Rainfall Data ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Shallow Water Table

Abstract The reliability of standard meteorological drought indices based on measurements of precipitation is limited by the spatial distribution and quality of currently available rainfall data. Furthermore, they reflect only one component of the surface hydrologic cycle, and they cannot readily capture nonprecipitation-based moisture inputs to the land surface system (e.g., irrigation) that may temper drought impacts or variable rates of water consumption across a landscape. This study assesses the value of a new drought index based on remote sensing of evapotranspiration (ET). The evaporative stress index (ESI) quantifies anomalies in the ratio of actual to potential ET (PET), mapped using thermal band imagery from geostationary satellites. The study investigates the behavior and response time scales of the ESI through a retrospective comparison with the standardized precipitation indices and Palmer drought index suite, and with drought classifications recorded in the U.S. Drought Monitor for the 2000–09 growing seasons. Spatial and temporal correlation analyses suggest that the ESI performs similarly to short-term (up to 6 months) precipitation-based indices but can be produced at higher spatial resolution and without requiring any precipitation data. Unique behavior is observed in the ESI in regions where the evaporative flux is enhanced by moisture sources decoupled from local rainfall: for example, in areas of intense irrigation or shallow water table. Normalization by PET serves to isolate the ET signal component responding to soil moisture variability from variations due to the radiation load. This study suggests that the ESI is a useful complement to the current suite of drought indicators, with particular added value in parts of the world where rainfall data are sparse or unreliable.

scholarly journals Development of a Multiple Linear Regression Model for Meteorological Drought Index Estimation Based on Landsat Satellite Imagery

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3393
Author(s):  
Seon Woo Kim ◽  
Donghwi Jung ◽  
Yun-Jae Choung
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Index Estimation ◽  
Cumulative Precipitation

Climate polarization due to global warming has increased the intensity of drought in some regions, and the need for drought estimation studies to help minimize damage is increasing. In this study, we constructed remote sensing and climate data for Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, and developed a model for drought index estimation by classifying data characteristics and applying multiple linear regression analysis. The drought indices estimated in this study include four types of standardized precipitation indices (SPI1, SPI3, SPI6, and SPI9) used as meteorological drought indices and calculated through cumulative precipitation. We then applied statistical analysis to the developed model and assessed its ability as a drought index estimation tool using remote sensing data. Our results showed that its adj.R2 value, achieved using cumulative precipitation for one month, was very low (approximately 0.003), while for the SPI3, SPI6, and SPI9 models, the adj.R2 values were significantly higher than the other models at 0.67, 0.64, and 0.56, respectively, when the same data were used.

scholarly journals Comparison of Projection in Meteorological and Hydrological Droughts in the Cheongmicheon Watershed for RCP4.5 and SSP2-4.5

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2066
Author(s):  
Jin Hyuck Kim ◽  
Jang Hyun Sung ◽  
Eun-Sung Chung ◽  
Sang Ug Kim ◽  
Minwoo Son ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Hydrological Drought ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Drought Period ◽  
Drought Characteristics

Due to the recent appearance of shares socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios, there have been many studies that compare the results between Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP)5 and CMIP6 general circulation models (GCMs). This study attempted to project future drought characteristics in the Cheongmicheon watershed using SSP2-4.5 of Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator-coupled model (ACCESS-CM2) in addition to Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 of ACCESS 1-3 of the same institute. The historical precipitation and temperature data of ACCESS-CM2 were generated better than those of ACCESS 1-3. Two meteorological drought indices, namely, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) were used to project meteorological drought while a hydrological drought index, Standardized Streamflow Index (SDI), was used to project the hydrological drought characteristics. The metrological data of GCMs were bias-corrected using quantile mapping method and the streamflow was obtained using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and bias-corrected meteorological data. As a result, there were large differences of drought occurrences and severities between RCP4.5 and SSP2-4.5 for the values of SPI, SPEI, and SDI. The differences in the minimum values of drought index between near (2021–2060) and far futures (2061–2100) were very small in SSP2-4.5, while those in RCP4.5 were very large. In addition, the longest drought period from SDI was the largest because the variation in precipitation usually affects the streamflow with a lag. Therefore, it was concluded that it is important to consider both CMIP5 and CMIP6 GCMs in establishing the drought countermeasures for the future period.

scholarly journals ASSESSING DROUGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF MELAKA BASIN USING JOINT METEOROLOGICAL AND STREAMFLOW INDICES

2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kee An Hong ◽  
Jer Lang Hong ◽  
Izihan Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Drought Index ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Hydrological Drought ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Streamflow Data ◽  
Hydrological Droughts ◽  
Drought Occurrence ◽  
Meteorological Droughts

In this study, drought occurrence in the Melaka basin has been assessed using the meteorological and hydrological drought indices. A continuous rainfall and streamflow data of 40 years were used for drought analysis. Results show that in terms of meteorological drought index, the severe drought occurred in 1986-1988. The streamflow drought index indicates that the extreme drought occurred in 1982-1984. Further analysis based on seasonal precipitation and streamflow data shows that there is no drought for 79% of the time for the period 1960-2000 where there are hydrological records. For most of the dry and wet seasons, it is more likely that the frequency of occurrence of hydrological droughts only is higher than the frequency of occurrence of meteorological and hydrological droughts simultaneously or only meteorological droughts.

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