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

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 523-533 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Hydrological response to different time scales of climatological drought: an evaluation of the standardized precipitation index in a mountainous mediterranean basin

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1221-1246 ◽  
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 higher (>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 higher 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.

scholarly journals Análisis comparativo de índices de sequía en Andalucía para el periodo 1901-2012

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Peña-Gallardo ◽  
S. R. Gámiz-Fortís ◽  
Y. Castro-Diez ◽  
M. J. Esteban-Parra
Keyword(s):  
Time Windows ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Precipitation Index ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Global Evaluation ◽  
Temporal Behaviour ◽  
The Standardized Precipitation Index

The aim of this paper is the analysis of the detection and evolution of droughts occurred in Andalusia for the period 1901-2012, by applying three different drought indices: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Drought-Precipitation Index (IESP), computed for three time windows from the initial period 1901-2012. This analysis has been carried out after a preliminary study of precipitation trends with the intention of understanding the precipitation behaviour, because this climatic variable is one of the most important in the study of extreme events. The specific objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate and characterize the meteorological drought events, mainly the most important episodes in Andalusia; (2) to provide a global evaluation of the capacities of the three different considered indices in order to characterize the drought in a heterogeneous climatically territory; and (3) to describe the temporal behaviour of precipitation and drought indices series in order to establish the general characteristics of their evolution in Andalusia. The results have shown that not all the indices respond similarly identifying the intensity and duration of dry periods in this kind of region where geographical and climatic variability is one of the main elements to be considered.

A novel index for ecological drought monitoring based on ecological water deficit: a case study of Northwestern China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianliang Jiang ◽  
Xiaoling Su
Keyword(s):  
Water Deficit ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Northwestern China ◽  
Drought Monitoring ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Different Time Scales

<p>Although the concept of ecological drought was first defined by the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) in 2016, there remains no widely accepted drought index for monitoring ecological drought. Therefore, this study constructed a new ecological drought monitoring index, the standardized ecological water deficit index (SEWDI). The SEWDI is based on the difference between ecological water requirements and consumption, referred to as the standardized precipitation index (SPI) method, which was used to monitor ecological drought in Northwestern China (NWRC). The performances of the SEWDI and four widely-used drought indices [standardized root soil moisture index (SSI), self-calibrated Palmer drought index (scPDSI), standardized precipitation-evaporation drought index (SPEI), and SPI) in monitoring ecological drought were evaluated through comparing the Pearson correlations between these indices and the standardized normalized difference vegetation index (SNDVI) under different time scales, wetness, and water use efficiencies (WUEs) of vegetation. Finally, the rotational empirical orthogonal function (REOF) was used to decompose the SEWDI at a 12-month scale in the NWRC during 1982–2015 to obtain five ecological drought regions. The characteristics of ecological drought in the NWRC, including intensity, duration, and frequency, were extracted using run theory. The results showed that the performance of the SEWDI in monitoring ecological drought was highest among the commonly-used drought indices evaluated under different time scales [average correlation coefficient values (r) between SNDVI and drought indices: SEWDI<sub></sub>= 0.34, SSI<sub></sub>= 0.24, scPDSI<sub></sub>= 0.23, SPI<sub></sub>= 0.20, SPEI<sub></sub>= 0.18), and the 12-month-scale SEWDI was largely unaffected by wetness and WUE. In addition, the results of the monitoring indicated that serious ecological droughts in the NWRC mainly occurred in 1982–1986, 1990–1996, and 2005–2010, primarily in regions I, II, and V, regions II, and IV, and in region III, IV, and V, respectively. This study provides a robust approach for quantifying ecological drought severity across natural vegetation areas and scientific evidence for governmental decision makers.</p>

scholarly journals Long-Term, Gridded Standardized Precipitation Index for Hawai‘i

Data ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Lucas ◽  
Clay Trauernicht ◽  
Abby G. Frazier ◽  
Tomoaki Miura
Keyword(s):  
High Spatial Resolution ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Precipitation Index ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
The Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Climatic Information

Spatially explicit, wall-to-wall rainfall data provide foundational climatic information but alone are inadequate for characterizing meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, or ecological drought. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is one of the most widely used indicators of drought and defines localized conditions of both drought and excess rainfall based on period-specific (e.g., 1-month, 6-month, 12-month) accumulated precipitation relative to multi-year averages. A 93-year (1920–2012), high-resolution (250 m) gridded dataset of monthly rainfall available for the State of Hawai‘i was used to derive gridded, monthly SPI values for 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month intervals. Gridded SPI data were validated against independent, station-based calculations of SPI provided by the National Weather Service. The gridded SPI product was also compared with the U.S. Drought Monitor during the overlapping period. This SPI product provides several advantages over currently available drought indices for Hawai‘i in that it has statewide coverage over a long historical period at high spatial resolution to capture fine-scale climatic gradients and monitor changes in local drought severity.

scholarly journals Computation of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Its Use to Assess Drought Occurrences in Cameroon over Recent Decades

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 2310-2324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Merlin Guenang ◽  
F. Mkankam Kamga
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Research Unit ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Precipitation Index ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
East Anglia ◽  
The Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Short Time

AbstractThe standardized precipitation index (SPI) is computed and analyzed using 55 years of precipitation data recorded in 24 observation stations in Cameroon along with University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) spatialized data. Four statistical distribution functions (gamma, exponential, Weibull, and lognormal) are first fitted to data accumulated for various time scales, and the appropriate functions are selected on the basis of the Anderson–Darling goodness-of-fit statistic. For short time scales (up to 6 months) and for stations above 10°N, the gamma distribution is the most frequent choice; below this belt, the Weibull distribution predominates. For longer than 6-month time scales, there are no consistent patterns of fitted distributions. After calculating the SPI in the usual way, operational drought thresholds that are based on an objective method are determined at each station. These thresholds are useful in drought-response decision making. From SPI time series, episodes of severe and extreme droughts are identified at many stations during the study period. Moderate/severe drought occurrences are intra-annual in short time scales and interannual for long time scales (greater than 9 months), usually spanning many years. The SPI calculated from CRU gridded precipitation shows similar results, with some discrepancies at longer scales. Thus, the spatialized dataset can be used to extend such studies to a larger region—especially data-scarce areas.

scholarly journals The application of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to monitor drought in surface and groundwaters

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 00082
Author(s):  
Justyna Kubicz
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Test Area ◽  
Precipitation Index ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Spi Index ◽  
Correct Determination ◽  
Water Courses ◽  
Current Water

The paper presents the initial studies with the aim to assess the possibility to apply of Standardized Precipitation Index SPI to monitor drought in surface and groundwaters. The fact that data about precipitation are highly available allows for precise monitoring of the periods of occurrence and intensification of meteorological drought by determining the standardized SPI index. The evaluation of current water deficits in surface water courses and groundwaters is very difficult due to the fact that the measurement network is relatively scarce. In order to apply SPI to monitor hydrological and hydrogeological drought, it is required to assess the significance and level of the correlation between drought indices in the test area and then to calculate the probability of correct determination of drought in surface and groundwaters with use of SPI.

scholarly journals Drought Analysis for Kuwait Using Standardized Precipitation Index

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaber Almedeij
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
Precipitation Index ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Drought Characteristics ◽  
Monthly Total Precipitation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Long Time

Implementation of adequate measures to assess and monitor droughts is recognized as a major matter challenging researchers involved in water resources management. The objective of this study is to assess the hydrologic drought characteristics from the historical rainfall records of Kuwait with arid environment by employing the criterion of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). A wide range of monthly total precipitation data from January 1967 to December 2009 is used for the assessment. The computation of the SPI series is performed for intermediate- and long-time scales of 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. The drought severity and duration are also estimated. The bivariate probability distribution for these two drought characteristics is constructed by using Clayton copula. It has been shown that the drought SPI series for the time scales examined have no systematic trend component but a seasonal pattern related to rainfall data. The results are used to perform univariate and bivariate frequency analyses for the drought events. The study will help evaluating the risk of future droughts in the region, assessing their consequences on economy, environment, and society, and adopting measures for mitigating the effect of droughts.

scholarly journals Application of the Hidden Markov Bayesian Classifier and Propagation Concept for Probabilistic Assessment of Meteorological and Hydrological Droughts in South Korea

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1000
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nouman Sattar ◽  
Muhammad Jehanzaib ◽  
Ji Eun Kim ◽  
Hyun-Han Kwon ◽  
Tae-Woong Kim
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Bayesian Classifier ◽  
Hydrological Drought ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Hydrological Droughts ◽  
Drought Classes

Drought is one of the most destructive natural hazards and results in negative effects on the environment, agriculture, economics, and society. A meteorological drought originates from atmospheric components, while a hydrological drought is influenced by properties of the hydrological cycle and generally induced by a continuous meteorological drought. Several studies have attempted to explain the cross dependencies between meteorological and hydrological droughts. However, these previous studies did not consider the propagation of drought classes. Therefore, in this study, to consider the drought propagation concept and to probabilistically assess the meteorological and hydrological drought classes, characterized by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Runoff Index (SRI), respectively, we employed the Markov Bayesian Classifier (MBC) model that combines the procedure of iteration of feature extraction, classification, and application for assessment of drought classes for both SPI and SRI. The classification results were compared using the observed SPI and SRI, as well as with previous findings, which demonstrated that the MBC was able to reasonably determine drought classes. The accuracy of the MBC model in predicting all the classes of meteorological drought varies from 36 to 76% and in predicting all the classes of hydrological drought varies from 33 to 70%. The advantage of the MBC-based classification is that it considers drought propagation, which is very useful for planning, monitoring, and mitigation of hydrological drought in areas having problems related to hydrological data availability.

scholarly journals Design droughts as planning tool for ecosystem establishment in post-mining landscapes

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 4809-4849 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Halwatura ◽  
A. M. Lechner ◽  
S. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Recurrence Intervals ◽  
Different Time Scales

Abstract. Eastern Australia has considerable mineral and energy resources and areas of high biodiversity value co-occurring over a broad range of agro-climatic environments. Water is the primary abiotic stressor for (agro)ecosystems in many parts of Eastern Australia. In the context of mined land rehabilitation quantifying the severity-duration-frequency (SDF) of droughts is crucial for successful ecosystem rehabilitation to overcome challenges of early vegetation establishment and long-term ecosystem resilience. The objective of this study was to quantify the SDF of short-term and long-term drought events of 11 selected locations across a broad range of agro-climatic environments in Eastern Australia by using three drought indices at different time scales: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI), and the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Based on the indices we derived bivariate distribution functions of drought severity and duration, and estimated the recurrence intervals of drought events at different time scales. The correlation between the simple SPI and the more complex SPEI or RDI was stronger for the tropical and temperate locations than for the arid locations, indicating that SPEI or RDI can be replaced by SPI if evaporation plays a minor role for plant available water. Both short-term and long-term droughts were most severe and prolonged, and occurred most frequently in arid regions, but were relatively rare in tropical and temperate regions. Our approach is similar to intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) analyses of rainfall crucial to design infrastructure. In this regard, we propose to apply SDF analyses of droughts to design ecosystem components in post-mining landscapes. Together with design rainfalls, design droughts should be used to assess rehabilitation strategies and ecological management based on drought recurrence intervals, thereby minimising the risk of failure of initial ecosystem establishment due to ignorance of fundamental abiotic and site-specific environmental barriers.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the TRMM Product for Monitoring Drought over Paraíba State, Northeastern Brazil: A Statistical Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reginaldo Moura Brasil Neto ◽  
Celso Augusto Guimarães Santos ◽  
Thiago Victor Medeiros do Nascimento ◽  
Richarde Marques da Silva ◽  
Carlos Antonio Costa dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Spatiotemporal Behavior ◽  
The Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Statistical Metrics ◽  
Rainfall Estimates ◽  
Different Time Scales

Drought is a natural phenomenon that originates from the absence of precipitation over a certain period and is capable of causing damage to societal development. With the advent of orbital remote sensing, rainfall estimates from satellites have appeared as viable alternatives to monitor natural hazards in ungauged basins and complex areas of the world; however, the accuracies of these orbital products still need to be verified. Thus, this work aims to evaluate the performance of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite rainfall estimates in monitoring the spatiotemporal behavior of droughts at multiple temporal scales over Paraíba State based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI) over 20 years (1998–2017). For this purpose, rainfall data from 78 rain gauges and 187 equally spaced TRMM cell grids throughout the region are used, and accuracy analyses are performed at the single-gauge level and in four mesoregions at eight different time scales based on 11 statistical metrics calculations divided into three different categories. The results show that in the mesoregions close to the coast, the satellite-based product is less accurate in capturing the drought behavior regardless of the evaluated statistical metrics. At the temporal scale, the TRMM is more accurate in identifying the pattern of medium-term droughts; however, there is considerable spatial variation in the accuracy of the product depending on the performance index. Therefore, it is concluded that rainfall estimates from the TRMM satellite are a valuable source of data to identify drought behavior in a large part of Paraíba State at different time scales, and further multidisciplinary studies should be conducted to monitor these phenomena more accurately based on satellite data.

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