Assessment of agricultural drought using a simple water balance model in the Free State Province of South Africa

Moeletsi, Mokhele Edmond; Walker, Sue

doi:10.1007/s00704-011-0540-7

Cited by 31 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…2 and 3 and also highlighted by other studies (e.g. Anderson et al, 2012;Moeletsi and Walker, 2012;Mussá et al, 2014;Rojas et al, 2011;Rulinda et al, 2012;Trambauer et al, 2014). The increasingly available information and tools based on remote sensing, analysis of global climatic data sets (e.g.…”

Section: Vicente-serrano Et Al (2012)mentioning

confidence: 77%

A review of droughts on the African continent: a geospatial and long-term perspective

Masih

Maskey

Mussá

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

512

250

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Abstract. This paper presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the available literature and information on droughts to build a continental, regional and country level perspective on geospatial and temporal variation of droughts in Africa. The study is based on the review and analysis of droughts occurred during 1900-2013, as well as evidence available from past centuries based on studies on the lake sediment analysis, tree-ring chronologies and written and oral histories and future predictions from the global climate change models. Most of the studies based on instrumental records indicate that droughts have become more frequent, intense and widespread during the last 50 years. The extreme droughts of

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Section: Vicente-serrano Et Al (2012)mentioning

confidence: 77%

A review of droughts on the African continent: a geospatial and long-term perspective

Masih

Maskey

Mussá

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

512

250

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Moeletsi and Walker [130] WRSI was used to quantify droughts in the Free State Province, South Africa, affecting rain-fed maize production. WRSI values in semi-arid areas are locality dependent.…”

Section: Drought Index Reference Of Study Key Findings Limitations Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Climate Variability and Drought on Surface Water Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Remote Sensing: A Review

et al. 2020

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Climate variability and recurrent droughts have caused remarkable strain on water resources in most regions across the globe, with the arid and semi-arid areas being the hardest hit. The impacts have been notable on surface water resources, which are already under threat from massive abstractions due to increased demand, as well as poor conservation and unsustainable land management practices. Drought and climate variability, as well as their associated impacts on water resources, have gained increased attention in recent decades as nations seek to enhance mitigation and adaptation mechanisms. Although the use of satellite technologies has, of late, gained prominence in generating timely and spatially explicit information on drought and climate variability impacts across different regions, they are somewhat hampered by difficulties in detecting drought evolution due to its complex nature, varying scales, the magnitude of its occurrence, and inherent data gaps. Currently, a number of studies have been conducted to monitor and assess the impacts of climate variability and droughts on water resources in sub-Saharan Africa using different remotely sensed and in-situ datasets. This study therefore provides a detailed overview of the progress made in tracking droughts using remote sensing, including its relevance in monitoring climate variability and hydrological drought impacts on surface water resources in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper further discusses traditional and remote sensing methods of monitoring climate variability, hydrological drought, and water resources, tracking their application and key challenges, with a particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, characteristics and limitations of various remote sensors, as well as drought and surface water indices, namely, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Normalized Difference Vegetation (NDVI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), and Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI+5), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI+5), Automated Water Extraction Index (shadow) (AWEIsh), and Automated Water Extraction Index (non-shadow) (AWEInsh), and their relevance in climate variability and drought monitoring are discussed. Additionally, key scientific research strides and knowledge gaps for further investigations are highlighted. While progress has been made in advancing the application of remote sensing in water resources, this review indicates the need for further studies on assessing drought and climate variability impacts on water resources, especially in the context of climate change and increased water demand. The results from this study suggests that Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data are likely to be best suited to monitor climate variability, hydrological drought, and surface water bodies, due to their availability at relatively low cost, impressive spectral, spatial, and temporal characteristics. The most effective drought and water indices are SPI, PDSI, NDVI, VCI, NDWI, MNDWI, MNDWI+5, AWEIsh, and AWEInsh. Overall, the findings of this study emphasize the increasing role and potential of remote sensing in generating spatially explicit information on drought and climate variability impacts on surface water resources. However, there is a need for future studies to consider spatial data integration techniques, radar data, precipitation, cloud computing, and machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to improve on understanding climate and drought impacts on water resources across various scales.

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“…Drought is one of the most disastrous climate-related threats in the world, and affects agriculture, the environment, infrastructure, and socioeconomic activities [1]. Drought is defined as an insufficiency of rainfall over an extended period of time, usually a period of a month or more, resulting in a shortage of water and giving rise to adverse effects on vegetation, animals, and people [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation to Drought: Identifying Effective Adaptive Strategies and Measures

Muthelo

Owusu‐Sekyere

Ogundeji

2019

Water

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One of the biggest challenges for South African food security is recurring drought. It is a major concern due to insufficient knowledge and the low levels of resources or livelihood assets available to farmers in vulnerable situations, thereby limiting coping and adaptation choices. The objective of this paper was to identify the current adaptation and coping measures used by smallholder farmers, with a particular emphasis on farmers’ vulnerability to drought and the adaptive measures or strategies that are effective in the study area. In addition, we determined factors influencing their choice of adaptation strategies. In this way, the extent of farmers’ vulnerability and how this affects the choice of coping or adaptation strategies during drought were determined. The multinomial probit model (MPM) was used to examine the factors that influence farmers’ choice of coping/adaptation strategies in the study area. The results show that the respondents’ human capital vulnerability to drought was very high compared to their economic and social vulnerability. Influences such as age, gender, and marital status contributed to their human capital vulnerability. The majority of the respondents implemented water-use restrictions as a coping strategy during drought periods. There were several reasons for this, such as the resources available, the effective coping strategy for that specific location/area, and the socio-economic status of the respondents. The inadequate contribution by the government to drought risk reduction, the age of the respondents, the monthly income of each household, and the inequality of decision-making powers between male and female respondents were also found to contribute greatly to choosing an effective adaptation strategy. This study contributes to the ongoing investigation of the adaptation strategies and coping measures used by farmers vulnerable to drought in arid and semi-arid areas in Africa. This is done by identifying effective adaptation and coping measures within the farmers’ operational environment, unlike other studies that have only identified adaptation and coping strategies without examining their effectiveness in the given environment. Also, the inclusion of the human, social, economic, institutional, natural, and political forms of capital as determinants of the farmers’ choice of adaption and coping measures provides relevant insights for efficient and sustainable policy design.

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Assessment of agricultural drought using a simple water balance model in the Free State Province of South Africa

Cited by 31 publications

References 32 publications

A review of droughts on the African continent: a geospatial and long-term perspective

A review of droughts on the African continent: a geospatial and long-term perspective

Impacts of Climate Variability and Drought on Surface Water Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Remote Sensing: A Review

Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation to Drought: Identifying Effective Adaptive Strategies and Measures

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