An analysis of groundwater drought in combination with meteorological droughts. Case study of the Gwda River catchment (northern Poland)

Abstract

The article presents the research results aimed at determining the impact of meteorological droughts on groundwater droughts in the Gwda River catchment (northern Poland). The analysis was based on the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardised Groundwater Index (SGI) in various cumulation periods (1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months) from 1986–2015. Monthly groundwater levels measured in wells and monthly sums of precipitation from meteorological stations in the vicinity of those wells were used to assess the relationships between droughts. During the study period from 1986–2015, three to 43 meteorological droughts and one to five groundwater droughts were identified. Meteorological droughts were most numerous for the shortest cumulation period (1 month), while droughts for the longer accumulation of 24 to 36 months were less numerous. The SPI and SGI indices were most strongly correlated over the annual cycle in the upper part of the catchment (between the Sępólno Wielkie station and well I-33_1). The correlation coefficient r was highest (0.69) between SPI-18 and SGI-1. Correlations were much lower in the middle of the catchment, where the maximum annual r coefficient was 0.39. There was no correlation between droughts in the lower catchment (r=0.14). The correlations presented for the Gwda catchment indicate that the relationship between droughts is not clear.