Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006

Drought is an ongoing feature in Mongolia's steppe environment, yet it remains poorly documented. Awareness of drought conditions is important in the countryside because 50% of the rural population derive their livelihood from climate-dependent pastoralism. In this study, precipitation records,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sternberg, T, Thomas, D, Middleton, N
Other Authors: Royal Meteorological Society
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011
Subjects:
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author Sternberg, T
Thomas, D
Middleton, N
author2 Royal Meteorological Society
author_facet Royal Meteorological Society
Sternberg, T
Thomas, D
Middleton, N
author_sort Sternberg, T
collection OXFORD
description Drought is an ongoing feature in Mongolia's steppe environment, yet it remains poorly documented. Awareness of drought conditions is important in the countryside because 50% of the rural population derive their livelihood from climate-dependent pastoralism. In this study, precipitation records, 1970-2006, from five meteorological stations in three steppe provinces were analysed using the Standard Precipitation Index to identify drought events at 1-, 3-, 5- and 17-month timescales. Results found that the probability of drought occurrence in the steppe was slightly less than expected and that the occurrence, intensity and duration were site-specific characteristics. Additionally, its distribution was neither spatially consistent nor uniform over time at different sites. The most serious drought, in terms of severity and duration, was in progress in 2006 at the end of the study.
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spelling oxford-uuid:8af80f8d-0d45-46de-8b06-e9714a8acb532022-03-26T22:35:03ZDrought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:8af80f8d-0d45-46de-8b06-e9714a8acb53EnvironmentEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetWiley2011Sternberg, TThomas, DMiddleton, NRoyal Meteorological SocietyDrought is an ongoing feature in Mongolia's steppe environment, yet it remains poorly documented. Awareness of drought conditions is important in the countryside because 50% of the rural population derive their livelihood from climate-dependent pastoralism. In this study, precipitation records, 1970-2006, from five meteorological stations in three steppe provinces were analysed using the Standard Precipitation Index to identify drought events at 1-, 3-, 5- and 17-month timescales. Results found that the probability of drought occurrence in the steppe was slightly less than expected and that the occurrence, intensity and duration were site-specific characteristics. Additionally, its distribution was neither spatially consistent nor uniform over time at different sites. The most serious drought, in terms of severity and duration, was in progress in 2006 at the end of the study.
spellingShingle Environment
Sternberg, T
Thomas, D
Middleton, N
Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title_full Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title_fullStr Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title_full_unstemmed Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title_short Drought dynamics on the Mongolian steppe, 1970-2006
title_sort drought dynamics on the mongolian steppe 1970 2006
topic Environment
work_keys_str_mv AT sternbergt droughtdynamicsonthemongoliansteppe19702006
AT thomasd droughtdynamicsonthemongoliansteppe19702006
AT middletonn droughtdynamicsonthemongoliansteppe19702006