Drought Analysis in Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin Using the Standardized Precipitation Index

Caloiero, Tommaso; Veltri, Simone; Caloiero, Paola; Frustaci, Francesco

doi:10.3390/w10081043

Cited by 98 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In the spring-summer period, corresponding to the rapid vegetative crop development, the ET 0 was five-fold higher than precipitation in 2018. The ET 0 was eleven-fold and eight-fold higher than precipitation in the spring-summer of 2017 and 2019, respectively, exacerbating drought conditions in this crucial phase of the crop's biological cycle [46,47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Soil Water Content on Yield, Composition, Energy, and Water Indicators of the Bioenergy Grass Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum under Three-Growing Seasons

et al. 2020

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Raising water and energy productivity in agriculture can contribute to reducing the pressure on the limited freshwater availability and non-renewable energy sources. Bioenergy perennial grasses are efficient from a water perspective and can afford a low-energy cultivation system; however, crop selection and cultivation practices for minimizing land use change and maximizing resource use efficiencies remain a challenging task in view of sustainable bioeconomy development. The present work investigated the soil water effect on a long-term plantation of Saccharum (Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum), a bioenergy perennial grass holding great promise for semiarid Mediterranean areas. The plantation was in its 13th year following establishment and was subjected to three levels of irrigation for three successive growing seasons. Regression models between crop water use (CWU) and productivity, biomass composition, energy, and water indicators showed different prediction curves. Raising CWU (from 230 to 920 mm) enhanced the dry biomass yield (from 14.8 to 30.1 Mg ha−1) and the net energy value (from 257.6 to 511 GJ ha−1). On the same CWU range, unirrigated crops improved the energy efficiency (from 99.8 to 58.5 GJ ha−1), the energy productivity (from 5.6 to 3.4 Mg GJ−1) and the water productivity (from 114.5 to 56.1 MJ m−3) by reducing the water footprint (from 8.7 to 17.8 m3 GJ−1). Biomass composition was also superior in unirrigated crops, as the lower heating value, structural polysaccharides, and the acid detergent lignin were higher, while ash and soluble compounds were lower. Present findings demonstrated the good yield levels and persistence of Saccharum, improving our knowledge of plant responses to changing soil water availability to maximize energy and conserve natural resources, paving the way for sustainable bioeconomy development in the Mediterranean area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Soil Water Content on Yield, Composition, Energy, and Water Indicators of the Bioenergy Grass Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum under Three-Growing Seasons

et al. 2020

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“…The trends are significant over whole Sweden since 1901, while they become insignificant in central-southern Sweden since 1951 (Becker et al 2013;Hartmann et al 2013). According to Caloiero et al (2018).…”

Section: Precipitation and Spimentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydroclimate changes over Sweden in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: a millennium perspective

Chen

Zhang

Seftigen

et al. 2020

Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography

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“…Some of these areas, generally falling in the Mediterranean basin, are vulnerable to land degradation because of unfavorable biophysical factors (e.g., thin soil, sparse vegetation, etc.) and bad management practices [22][23][24], which are accompanied by even more frequent extreme events such as drought or frost [25][26][27][28][29][30]. The intensity and frequency of these extreme events are likely to increase in response to climate change, further impacting economic activities of underdeveloped regions and widening the social disparities within Europe.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing Space–Time Coherence in Precipitation Seasonality across Different European Climates

et al. 2020

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Seasonality is a fundamental feature of environmental systems which critically depend on the climate annual cycle. The regularity of the precipitation regime, in particular, is a basic factor to sustain equilibrium conditions. An incomplete or biased understanding of precipitation seasonality, in terms of temporal and spatial properties, could severely limit our ability to respond to climate risk, especially in areas with limited water resources or fragile ecosystems. Here, we analyze precipitation data from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) at 0.050 resolution to study the spatial features of the precipitation seasonality across different climate zones in Central-Southern Europe during the period 1981–2018. A cluster analysis of the average annual precipitation cycle shows that seasonality under the current climate can be synthesized in the form of a progressive deformation process of the annual cycle, which starts from the northernmost areas with maximum values in summer and ends in the south, where maximum values are recorded in winter. Our analysis is useful to detect local season-dependent changes, enhancing our understanding of the geography of climate change. As an example of application to this issue, we discuss the seasonality analysis in a simulated scenario based on IPCC projections.

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Drought Analysis in Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin Using the Standardized Precipitation Index

Cited by 98 publications

References 70 publications

The Impact of Soil Water Content on Yield, Composition, Energy, and Water Indicators of the Bioenergy Grass Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum under Three-Growing Seasons

The Impact of Soil Water Content on Yield, Composition, Energy, and Water Indicators of the Bioenergy Grass Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum under Three-Growing Seasons

Hydroclimate changes over Sweden in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: a millennium perspective

Analyzing Space–Time Coherence in Precipitation Seasonality across Different European Climates

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