Exploring climate variability and its impact on drought occurrence: Evidence from Godavari Middle sub-basin, India

• Published in: Weather and climate extremes 2020-12, Vol.30, p.100277, Article 100277
• Main Authors: Masroor, Md, Rehman, Sufia, Avtar, Ram, Sahana, Mehebub, Ahmed, Raihan, Sajjad, Haroon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate variability; Drought; Godavari middle sub basin; Mann kendall test; Standardized precipitation index
• ISSN: 2212-0947; 2212-0947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wace.2020.100277

Godavari middle sub-basin covering one district of Telangana state and eleven districts of Maharashtra state in India has been experiencing severe drought due to climate variability over the past several decades. Lying in the rain shadow zone of Western Ghats (mountain pass), it receives scant rainfall. Therefore, monitoring and assessing of drought is essential for lessening the impact on communities' livelihood and environment. We utilized forty grid points data from global weather data for SWAT portal during 1979–2013 for assessing drought conditions. Trends in important meteorological variables namely precipitation, temperature, wind speed, solar radiation and relative humidity were analyzed to examine the climate variability in the study area. Standardized precipitation index (SPI) was determined for one, three, six and twelve month drought. Mann Kendall test and Sen's slope were used to analyze trend in precipitation.Multiple linear regression was performed to establish relationship between meteorological variables and drought. Interpolation method of geographical information system (GIS) was utilized for spatial analyses of climate variability, drought and trend in precipitation in the study area. Findings revealed that watersheds located in south-western part of the sub-basin experienced decreasing trend in precipitation and consequent frequent droughts. The study further reveals that the meteorological variables have more impact on short-term drought. •Climate variability and its impact on drought was examined in Godavari sub-basin.•One, three, six and twelve months droughts was analyzed using SPI.•Relationship between climate variables and drought was examined.•Watersheds in the south western parts of the study area were vulnerable to drought.•Climate variables have pronounced effect on short term droughts in sub-basin.