Application of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) in Greece

Abstract

Abstract:The main premise of the current effort is that the use of a drought index, such as Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), may lead to a more appropriate understanding of drought duration, magnitude and spatial extent in semi-arid areas like Greece. The importance of the Index may be marked in its simplicity and its ability to identify the beginning and end of a drought event. Thus, it may point towards drought contingency planning and through it to drought alert mechanisms. In this context, Greece, as it very often faces the hazardous impacts of droughts, presents an almost ideal case for the SPI application. The present approach examines the SPI drought index application for all of Greece and it is evaluated accordingly by historical precipitation data. Different time series of data from 46 precipitation stations, covering the period 1947-2004, and for time scales of 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, were used. The computation of the index was achieved by the appropriate usage of a pertinent software tool. Then, spatial representation of the SPI values was carried out with geo-statistical methods using the SURFER 9 software package. The results underline the potential that the SPI usage exhibits in a drought alert and forecasting effort as part of a drought contingency planning posture.

Probabilistic Forecasting of Drought Events Using Markov Chain- and Bayesian Network-Based Models: A Case Study of an Andean Regulated River Basin

“…Figure 2 shows the variation of the monthly average of rainfall and water volume, two time series of the variables. Similar to the study by Avilés et al [15], to capture short, medium and large term droughts, time windows of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were selected for the generation of ten time series with varying time scales, respectively five time series of the total rainfall (PR1, PR3, PR6, PR9 and PR12) in mm, and five time series of the water volume entering the reservoir (VS1, VS3, VS6, VS9 and VS12) in hm 3 . The monthly seasonality is accounted by the division of the ten time series for each month.…”

“…Droughts are recognized as an environmental disaster, the consequence of a reduction in precipitation over an extended period of time [1], negatively affecting agriculture, domestic water supply and economic growth [2], and in some cases even altering the functioning of natural ecosystems [3]. Droughts are especially important in regions where economic activities are highly dependent on water resources [4], such as in mountain regions which traditionally provide water resources and services to local communities and lowland residents [5].…”

Hubungan Indeks Osilasi Selatan dan Indeks Curah Hujan terhadap Kejadian Kekeringan di Kabupaten Indramayu, Jawa Barat, Indonesia

“…SPI memiliki kredibilitas dan relevansi baik teknis maupun kebijakan sebagai indikator yang dapat disajikan sebagai alat serbaguna dalam mewaspadai, pemantauan dan analisis kekeringan (Karavitis et al, 2011).…”

Comparative Analysis of Spatial Interpolation Methods in the Mediterranean Area: Application to Temperature in Sicily

“…Several geostatistical methods have been used for assessing the performances of the spatial processing of precipitation fields in several works focused on this issue, e.g., [21][22][23]. As highlighted by Haining et al [24], geostatistical methods can be used to perform the characterization of the spatial structure of the process considered and provide useful insights into the uncertainty associated with the interpolation analysis.…”