A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India
Abstract The commonly used precipitation-based drought indices typically rely on probability distribution functions that can be suitable when the data exhibit minimal discrepancies. However, in arid and semi-arid regions, the precipitation data often display significant discrepancies due to highly i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Applied Water Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-023-02085-z |
| _version_ | 1797273698680438784 |
|---|---|
| author | Sabyasachi Swain Prabhash Kumar Mishra Saswata Nandi Biswajeet Pradhan Sashikanta Sahoo Nadhir Al-Ansari |
| author_facet | Sabyasachi Swain Prabhash Kumar Mishra Saswata Nandi Biswajeet Pradhan Sashikanta Sahoo Nadhir Al-Ansari |
| author_sort | Sabyasachi Swain |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The commonly used precipitation-based drought indices typically rely on probability distribution functions that can be suitable when the data exhibit minimal discrepancies. However, in arid and semi-arid regions, the precipitation data often display significant discrepancies due to highly irregular rainfall patterns. Consequently, imposing any probability distributions on the data for drought analysis in such regions may not be effective. To address this issue, this study employs a novel drought index called the Discrepancy Precipitation Index (DPI), specifically designed for arid regions. Unlike traditional methods, the DPI does not impose a probability distribution on the precipitation data; instead, it relies on the discrepancy between the data and the mean value. Drought severity classifications (i.e., Drought-I, Drought-II, and Drought-III) are proposed based on the DPI values. The DPI is used to characterize and assess the meteorological drought years based on annual and monsoonal precipitation over nineteen districts in Western Rajasthan, India, during 1901–2019. Additionally, a novel statistic called Discrepancy Measure (DM) is employed to assess the degree of discrepancy in the precipitation climatology of the districts for annual and monsoon precipitation time series. Based on annual precipitation, Jaisalmer district exhibited the highest number of historical drought years (35), whereas three districts, i.e., Jhunjhunu, Dausa, and Bhilwara exhibited the lowest number of drought years (11). Similarly, based on monsoon precipitation, Jaisalmer and Bhilwara encountered the highest (34) and the lowest (11) number of drought years, respectively. The return period of Drought-II is lower for monsoon precipitation-based DPI as compared to that of the annual precipitation-based DPI for all the districts. The DM and DPI-based total number of droughts are found to be strongly correlated for both annual and monsoon precipitation. The DM value is highest for Jaisalmer and lowest for Bhilwara district. The findings reveal DPI as an efficient tool for assessing drought years, particularly in arid climatic conditions. Moreover, as the DM value increases for a precipitation series, the DPI becomes more effective in capturing drought events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:48:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2cebf0698004cc88001f2a478f16137 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2190-5487 2190-5495 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:48:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Water Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2cebf0698004cc88001f2a478f161372024-03-05T19:54:51ZengSpringerOpenApplied Water Science2190-54872190-54952024-01-0114211510.1007/s13201-023-02085-zA simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, IndiaSabyasachi Swain0Prabhash Kumar Mishra1Saswata Nandi2Biswajeet Pradhan3Sashikanta Sahoo4Nadhir Al-Ansari5Deltaic Regional Centre, National Institute of HydrologyClimate Hydrology Division, National Institute of HydrologySierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California MercedCentre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial Information Systems, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology SydneyPunjab Remote Sensing CentreDepartment of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of TechnologyAbstract The commonly used precipitation-based drought indices typically rely on probability distribution functions that can be suitable when the data exhibit minimal discrepancies. However, in arid and semi-arid regions, the precipitation data often display significant discrepancies due to highly irregular rainfall patterns. Consequently, imposing any probability distributions on the data for drought analysis in such regions may not be effective. To address this issue, this study employs a novel drought index called the Discrepancy Precipitation Index (DPI), specifically designed for arid regions. Unlike traditional methods, the DPI does not impose a probability distribution on the precipitation data; instead, it relies on the discrepancy between the data and the mean value. Drought severity classifications (i.e., Drought-I, Drought-II, and Drought-III) are proposed based on the DPI values. The DPI is used to characterize and assess the meteorological drought years based on annual and monsoonal precipitation over nineteen districts in Western Rajasthan, India, during 1901–2019. Additionally, a novel statistic called Discrepancy Measure (DM) is employed to assess the degree of discrepancy in the precipitation climatology of the districts for annual and monsoon precipitation time series. Based on annual precipitation, Jaisalmer district exhibited the highest number of historical drought years (35), whereas three districts, i.e., Jhunjhunu, Dausa, and Bhilwara exhibited the lowest number of drought years (11). Similarly, based on monsoon precipitation, Jaisalmer and Bhilwara encountered the highest (34) and the lowest (11) number of drought years, respectively. The return period of Drought-II is lower for monsoon precipitation-based DPI as compared to that of the annual precipitation-based DPI for all the districts. The DM and DPI-based total number of droughts are found to be strongly correlated for both annual and monsoon precipitation. The DM value is highest for Jaisalmer and lowest for Bhilwara district. The findings reveal DPI as an efficient tool for assessing drought years, particularly in arid climatic conditions. Moreover, as the DM value increases for a precipitation series, the DPI becomes more effective in capturing drought events.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-023-02085-zDrought monitoringArid regionDiscrepancy precipitation indexDiscrepancy measureRajasthan |
| spellingShingle | Sabyasachi Swain Prabhash Kumar Mishra Saswata Nandi Biswajeet Pradhan Sashikanta Sahoo Nadhir Al-Ansari A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India Applied Water Science Drought monitoring Arid region Discrepancy precipitation index Discrepancy measure Rajasthan |
| title | A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India |
| title_full | A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India |
| title_fullStr | A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India |
| title_full_unstemmed | A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India |
| title_short | A simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions: a case study of Rajasthan, India |
| title_sort | simplistic approach for monitoring meteorological drought over arid regions a case study of rajasthan india |
| topic | Drought monitoring Arid region Discrepancy precipitation index Discrepancy measure Rajasthan |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-023-02085-z |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sabyasachiswain asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT prabhashkumarmishra asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT saswatanandi asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT biswajeetpradhan asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT sashikantasahoo asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT nadhiralansari asimplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT sabyasachiswain simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT prabhashkumarmishra simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT saswatanandi simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT biswajeetpradhan simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT sashikantasahoo simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia AT nadhiralansari simplisticapproachformonitoringmeteorologicaldroughtoveraridregionsacasestudyofrajasthanindia |