A Global Hydrological Drought Index Dataset Based on Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Data

Abstract

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have been used in drought/flood monitoring by observing terrestrial water storage (TWS) change. Meteorological drought indicators or other identified disaster information were usually adopted in association with GRACE-observed changes in TWS for the determination of the occurrence and severity of droughts/floods. Inter-comparisons of dry conditions based on TWS change on a global scale, however, were very difficult because TWS anomalies are not comparable for different hydro-climatic regions. In this paper, we established a global dataset of GRACE-based dimensionless drought index, the Total Storage Deficit Index (TSDI), which is spatially comparable and capable of independently examining the characteristics of dry/wet spells globally. The globally mapped GRACE-based TSDI was examined with some reported extreme hydrologic events, which suggested that the results were fairly consistent with documented drought/flood disaster information. Moreover, comparisons of the GRACE-based TSDI with other frequently used drought indicators, such as the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI), suggested that the TSDI was significantly correlated with the SPI at three different time scales, the PDSI, and the PHDI over most parts of the global surface. The longer the time scale of the selected SPI, the stronger the correlation tended to be with the TSDI. Moreover, the correlation of the TSDI with the PHDI was higher than that with the PDSI over almost the whole global surface. With regard to its performance, this study suggested that the TSDI derived from GRACE-based TWS could be a useful dimensionless index for global and regional hydrological drought monitoring, especially for areas where meteo-hydrological observations are insufficient or human activities are intensive.