Spatiotemporal analysis of hydro-meteorological drought in the Johor River Basin, Malaysia

• Published in: Theoretical and applied climatology 2019-02, Vol.135 (3-4), p.825-837
• Main Authors: Tan, Mou Leong, Chua, Vivien P., Li, Cheng, Brindha, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural management; Agriculture; Analysis; Aquatic Pollution; Aquatic resources; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Atmospheric Sciences; Climate science; Climatic conditions; Climatological normals; Climatology; Drought; Drought monitoring; Droughts; Duration; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; El Nino; El Nino phenomena; Environmental monitoring; Forecasting; Hydrologic data; Hydrology; Hydrometeorology; Madden-Julian oscillation; Management; Original Paper; Precipitation; Rain; Rain and rainfall; Rainfall; Rainfall data; Reservoir construction; River basins; Rivers; Southern Oscillation; Standardized precipitation index; Stations; Stream discharge; Stream flow; Streamflow; Waste Water Technology; Water; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water resources; Water resources management; Weather
• ISSN: 0177-798X; 1434-4483
• DOI: 10.1007/s00704-018-2409-5

Assessment of historical hydro-meteorological drought is important to develop a robust drought monitoring and prediction system. This study aims to assess the historical hydro-meteorological drought of the Johor River Basin (JRB) from 1975 to 2010, an important basin for the population of southern Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI) were selected to represent the meteorological and hydrological droughts, respectively. Four absolute homogeneity tests were used to assess the rainfall data from 20 stations, and two stations were flagged by these tests. Results indicate the SPI duration to be comparatively low (3 months), and drier conditions occur over the upper JRB. The annual SSI had a strong decreasing trend at 95% significance level, showing that human activities such as reservoir construction and agriculture (oil palm) have a major influence on streamflow in the middle and lower basin. In addition, moderate response rate of SSI to SPI was found, indicating that hydrological drought could also have occurred in normal climate condition. Generally, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Madden Julian Oscillation have greater impacts on drought events in the basin. Findings of this study could be beneficial for future drought projection and water resources management.