How to cite: Chelu, A. (2019) A Typology of Indices for Drought Assessment. 2019 ”Air and Water – Components of the Environment” Conference Proceedings, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, p. 77-90, DOI: 10.24193/AWC2019_08.
A TYPOLOGY OF INDICES FOR DROUGHT ASSESSMENT
Alexandra CHELU
ABSTRACT. – Drought is one of the most disastrous and costly natural hazards determined by a deficit of precipitation in a particular area. It causes large economic losses and affects access to water in various parts of the planet. Water scarcity impacts natural ecosystems and human activities dependent on water resources, especially crop production. Monitoring drought is therefore crucial to the evaluation of its impacts and to address the issue in a timely manner, in order to develop and implement mitigation measures. Various methodologies have been advanced to quantify essential drought characteristics, such as time of onset and ending, duration and intensity. The objective of this paper is to review the existing indices used for drought identification and assessment and to propose an index typology. The study employs bibliographical research, synthesis and classification of indices by data source input and their aims. The results provide a brief overview of the drought indices based on measured or modelled data (meteorological, hydrologic or agricultural approaches), remote sensing data (hydro-meteorological or ecological approaches) and multivariate or composite indices.
Keywords: drought index, remote sensing, precipitation, temperature.
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