Abstract
Indices for objectively quantifying the severity of meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological forms of drought are discussed. Indices for each drought form are judged according to six weighted evaluation criteria: robustness, tractability, transparency, sophistication, extendability, and dimensionality. The indices considered most promising for succinctly summarizing drought severity are computed for two climate divisions in Oregon for 24 water years, 1976–99. The assessment determined that the most valuable indices for characterizing meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural droughts are rainfall deciles, total water deficit, and computed soil moisture, respectively.
Keywords
Environmental scienceDecileClimatologyClimate changeAgricultureHydrology (agriculture)GeographyMathematicsStatisticsGeology
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
An aggregate drought index: Assessing drought severity based on fluctuations in the hydrologic cycle and surface water storage
An aggregate drought index (ADI) has been developed, and evaluated within three diverse climate divisions in California. The ADI comprehensively considers all physical forms of ...
On the definition of droughts
In this paper, several considerations for developing a practical, analytical definition of droughts are discussed. These considerations include (1) selection of the nature of th...
On the asymmetric response of aquifer water level to floods and droughts in Illinois
Here we analyze observed characteristics of the natural variability in the regional‐scale hydrological cycle of Illinois, including the soil and atmospheric branches. This analy...
Spatial patterns of multiple drought types in the contiguous United States: a seasonal comparison
The impacts of severe droughts on human activities, terrestrial ecosystems, and hydrologic systems are wide ranging and easily discernible.Because these impacts are felt at diff...
MEASURING DROUGHT IMPACTS: THE ILLINOIS CASE<sup>1</sup>
ABSTRACT: Drought is an interaction between physical processes and human activities. This study quantified the impacts of precipitation deficiencies on streamflow, reservoirs, a...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2002
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 83
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1167-1180
- Citations
- 1247
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
1247
OpenAlex
Cite This
J. Keyantash,
John A. Dracup
(2002).
The Quantification of Drought: An Evaluation of Drought Indices.
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
, 83
(8)
, 1167-1180.
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477-83.8.1167
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1175/1520-0477-83.8.1167