ІНДЕКСАЦІЯ МЕТЕОРОЛОГІЧНОЇ ПОСУХИ

Abstract

Drought is a serious extreme climatic event that negatively affects the physical environment and water systems causing disruptions in the hydrological cycle of the region. This is a stochastic natural hazard caused by persistent rainfall scarcity. The life cycle of the drought begins with a meteorological phenomenon, and further influence is realized throughout the hydrological cycle. Adequate measures are needed to respond and mitigate the various effects of drought. Developing and implementing drought mitigation and response strategies requires understanding the various indicators used to study drought. Drought characteristics are an important condition that allows both retrospective analysis and forward planning – risk assessment. Thus, it is necessary to objectively identify the events of drought by time, duration, scale and severity of manifestation. This can be implemented with integrated indicators that involve the main characteristics of the drought. More than 150 drought indices have now been proposed, some of which are perceived as operational information used to characterize drought through maps at regional and national levels. By quantifying the level of severity and announcing the onset and end of drought, drought indices are now assisting in a variety of operations, including early warning, drought monitoring and contingency planning. Despite their diversity and continuous development, it is important to provide a comprehensive overview of the available weather indicators, which highlights their differences and studies their trends and which can be used in a special given manner regional climate.