Comparison of various drought indices for assessing drought status of the Northern Mekerra watershed, Northwest of Algeria

Drought is a slow-onset, creeping natural hazard and a recurrent phenomenon in the arid and semi-arid region of the Mekerra watershed. Numerous drought indices have been used in different countries to implement drought mapping and monitoring of water resources management. This investigation proves m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arabian journal of geosciences 2021-05, Vol.14 (10), Article 915
Main Authors: Elhoussaoui, Abdelghani, Zaagane, Mansour, Benaabidate, Lahcen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arid regions
Arid zones
Detection
Drought
Drought index
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth science
Earth Sciences
Environmental monitoring
Original Paper
Precipitation
Remote sensing
Semi arid areas
Semiarid lands
Standardized precipitation index
Temporal variations
Water management
Water resources
Water resources management
Watersheds
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Summary:Drought is a slow-onset, creeping natural hazard and a recurrent phenomenon in the arid and semi-arid region of the Mekerra watershed. Numerous drought indices have been used in different countries to implement drought mapping and monitoring of water resources management. This investigation proves meteorological drought index combined with remote sensing drought index, but had unsteady spatial and temporal variation. The results highlight that droughts occur in semi-arid climatic region of Sidi Bel Abbes at the Northern part of the watershed. The various drought indices differ in their detection and classification of this extreme climatic event in the study area. There is high correlation (r > 0.68) among the eight indices, with PD (Precipitation deciles), DI (Deciles Index), and PNI (Percent of Normal Index) showing the highest relationship to SPI (r = 0.95 and r = 0.99 respectively). The differences observed among the drought indices in detecting drought events in the study area can be reduced by using multiple drought indices in addition to the use of SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) in drought assessments especially at the area of Sidi Bel Abbes since technological advancement in drought monitoring software’s has made it easier. In addition, it is worthwhile to investigate on why drought detection varies with indices. Furthermore, considering the advantages and disadvantages of the mentioned drought predictors in this study area will enhance the understanding of vegetation responses to drought threatens.
ISSN:1866-7511
1866-7538
DOI:10.1007/s12517-021-07269-y