A Review of Some Indices Used for Drought Monitoring

Abstract

Drought is a natural hazard that results from a deficiency of precipitation and water availability from expected or normal amounts, usually extended over a season or longer period. Drought can be hydrological, meteorological, agricultural and socio-economical. It affects the ecology, biodiversity, hydrology and climate and economy and the wellbeing of the societies at local, regional and global levels. Drought causes for significant environmental and economic problems, which in turn affect the balance of food supply and demand leads to poverty. Therefore, drought monitoring and prediction and warning system is a very essential component to minimize vulnerabilities and risks. In this regard, drought indices play a great role. The objective of this review is to show different available drought indices used for monitoring drought events. For investigating drought using a single index is not providing better results, therefore, integrating different indices is recommended because the environmental variable is spatially different and the indices do not use the same model and there are gaps in the model. Thus, by integrating different indices it is possible to achieve better drought results.