Appraisal of Drought Indices based on Climatic Variability using DrinC Software for Potwar Region in Punjab Pakistan during 1981–2019

Drought is treated as a key natural disaster that affects numerous segments of the natural environment and economy throughout the world. Drought indices (DIs) were computed for Potwar region (PR) in Punjab-Pakistan, using DrinC software which are deciles, Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI). Drought situation of 12, 9, 6 and 3 months was estimated on temporal basis. DIs obtained by deciles technique showed that for the last 39 years, 8-years are with drought severity in a cycle and are occurring every 2 to 7-years just the once repetitively. The RDI and SPI index showed the analogous trends as of deciles. Though, for RDI and SPI, the extremely dry and severely dry class was merely two years and rest of the drought affected years with respect to deciles were normally and intermediately dry. SPI is better as compared to deciles as the severity is better understood in the context of SPI. Regression analysis revealed that the RDI and SPI indices are mutually interrelated and if first 3 month precipitation is obtainable one can forecast yearly RDI. This investigation is valuable to devise future development plans to contest vulnerable drought incidents, its mitigation and impacts on socio-economic sectors.

AN EVALUATION OF METEOROLOGICAL DROUGHT IN DAK LAK PROVINCE

Assessment of the degree of meteorological drought in Dak Lak province is carried out using the SPI index and the water balance index K in the period 1985 - 2019. The results show that: According to the SPI index, drought tends to occur more at the time of transition from the dry season to the rainy season, during the rainy season, and from the time of transition from the rainy season to the dry season. The K-index in the period 1985 - 2019 showed there was a dry period at the beginning of the year from January to April. The anomalous drought factor plays a very important role because its large influence can cause damages, and allows assessing the variability of rainfall and the impact of climate change on the region. The study and evaluation of meteorological drought have practical significance, supporting managers in making policies on water resource management, ensuring sustainable economic and social development in the context of global climate change.

Droughts and the Impacts of Dry Spells in North of Iraq

Different sets of dry spell length such as complete series, monthly maximum, seasonal maximum, and annual maximum are applied and modeled with different probability distribution functions (such as Gumbel Max, generalized extreme value, Log-Logistic, generalized logistic, inverse Gaussian, Log-Pearson 3, generalized Pareto) to recognize in which duration, dry spells cause drought. The drought situation and temporal analysis in the North of Iraq region were done using the SPI index and by software of DrinC at a time scale of 3.6 and 12 months. Because of applicability, availability of data and the aim of the study, SPI is selected to analyze the dry spells in this study. Based on the maximum length of the available statistical period, the statistics for the years 1980 to 2019 were used from nine meteorological stations for analysis. The results of the study showed the severity of drought during the study period which related to dry spells. The results of this research confirm the variation of drought occurrence with varying degrees in different time and different dry spells condition in Iraq.

Can Effective Drought Index (EDI) successfully characterise meteorological drought and seasonal agricultural losses?

<p>The nature and characteristics of drought are not like a flood, cyclone or storm surge since droughts cannot easily be tracked and are difficult to quantify as a distinct event. In this study, we examined the characteristics of meteorological drought occurrence and severity using the Effective Drought Index (EDI), including the drought events, drought chronology, onset and ending of drought, consecutive drought spells, drought frequency, intensity and severity, using North-Bengal of Bangladesh as a case study. The rainfall and temperature dataset of Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) for the study region throughout 1979-2018 is utilised. The trends of drought are detected by using the Mann-Kendall test and Sen Slope estimation. We evaluated the performance of EDI using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), historical drought records and rice production. The study finds that seasonal and annual droughts have become more frequent in all seasons except pre-monsoon. In addition, the largest decrease in seasonal EDI is found in the monsoon in both Teesta floodplain and Barind tract. In decades prior to the late 2000s, a drought spell typically started between March to May (± 15 days) and ended with the monsoonal rainfall in June/July. In the years since the last 2000s, monsoon and post-monsoon droughts spells have significantly increased. Overall, the peak intensities of droughts are higher in the Barind tract than in the Teesta floodplain, and the frequency and severity of moderate to severe drought are increasing significantly in the Barind tract. Though EDI is strongly correlated with the SPI index, EDI and rice production have a non-linear relationship and are not significantly correlated. Hence, this research suggests that there are other significant influences on yield rather than just climatological drought (e.g. irrigation, lack of technology and management etc.).</p>

Analysis of drought and wet season in Guilan province using SPI relationship and Markov chain model

Drought is an urgent environmental issue. Therefore, recognizing its characteristics is of great importance. The most common drought monitoring tool is the Drought Index. The SPI index is a well-known indicator of drought monitoring because of its simplicity, versatility and applicability in any type of climate. In order to investigate the dry matter and estimate its occurrence probability in Rasht city, which is located in the most rainy part of Iran, the time series of SPI were used in combination with Markov chain and the continuity, severity and frequency of dry and wet periods for the period 12.6.3 and 24 months old. The probability of equilibrium in each of the dry and wet conditions and the normal and the expected average expected drought and mildew were predicted, together with the average duration of its duration for different periods. The results showed that the drought share of mild droughts in all periods and droughts Severe is more than 6 months longer. Drought is the highest in the 3rd and 6th month period and is the lowest in the 24-month period. The continuation of drought is greater in the 12 and 24-month intervals, and the probability of transition from one state to another is increased in a longer time series. The probability of equilibrium is more than drought. The SPI profile matches the results of the Markov chain, so combining these two, while improving our ability to evaluate drought monitoring, increases the efficiency of the management system and resource planning.

Acoustic characteristics of voice in voice professionals with hypotonic dysphonia

The article presents the results of a study of the acoustic characteristics of the voice in voice professionals and non-voice professionals. We examined 80 people aged 23 to 45 years with functional dysphonia of the hypotonic type, who applied to the phoniatric office of the St. Petersburg Research Institute of ENT. Of these, 23 were professional vocalists, 12 were representatives of speech professions, and 45 were non-professional voices. First, the phoniatrist examined the larynx and assessed its condition with video endostroboscopy (K. Storz) or video pharyngolaryngoscopy (VIVIDEO, KayPentax). Objective acoustic analysis was performed using the Multi-Speech software and hardware complex and the MDVP software (KayPentax). The numerical and graphical expressions of the following parameters were evaluated: noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), voice turbulence index (VTI), and soft phonation index (SPI). The results of the study showed that the SPI index is the most informative in assessing hoarseness in patients with hypotonic functional dysphonia. The lower values of this indicator in vocalists can be explained by the presence of a sufficiently developed resonator system of the vocal apparatus, which is reflected in the amplification of the high-frequency components of the voice spectrum.