Estimating Drought Index Using Standardized Precipitation Index from 1901 to 2015, Turkey

Abstract

Complete administration and decision making in the subject of water resources needs dependable forecast for drought region, duration and severity. The major objective of this study is to determine drought features which are significant for drought awareness and management using rainfall data for 115 years (1901-2015) by compute Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values in different time scales (1, 3, 6 and 12 months), where the SPI is used for Drought Early Warning. The drought index is founded on monthly precipitation, SPI calculated over the Turkey region 38.9637 °N and 35.2433° E, at time scales of 1, 3, 6 and 12 months for the period 1901–2015. Trends in SPI values denote that the ratio of Turkey experiencing extreme and/or severe drought provisions has different considerably through these years.