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Indices for Meteorological and Hydrological Drought

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Hydrological Aspects of Climate Change

Abstract

This review chapter describes two physical forms of drought, meteorological and hydrological drought, and introduces a variety of specialized drought indices which may be used to quantify the intensity and severity of those drought forms. Meteorological and hydrological drought indices include the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), rainfall deciles, standardized precipitation index (SPI), standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), total water deficit and surface water supply index (SWSI). Two composite drought indices—which examine elements of both meteorological and hydrological droughts—are also discussed: the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and the aggregate drought index (ADI).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Take special note to not inadvertently exchange the words intensity and severity, as they are distinct terms. Intensity implies the average strength, while severity indicates the cumulative effect. To wit, PDSI does not stand for the Palmer drought intensity index.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science and Geography, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA, USA

    John Keyantash

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  1. John Keyantash
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Correspondence to John Keyantash .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    Ashish Pandey

  2. Surface Water Hydrology Division, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India

    Sanjay Kumar

  3. Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    Arun Kumar

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Keyantash, J. (2021). Indices for Meteorological and Hydrological Drought. In: Pandey, A., Kumar, S., Kumar, A. (eds) Hydrological Aspects of Climate Change. Springer Transactions in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0394-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0394-5_11

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-0394-5

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