Assessment of meteorological droughts over Hoshangabad district, India

Abstract

In this study, the meteorological drought characteristics (severity, frequency, and persistence) over the Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, India are analyzed. The percent departure from mean (PDM) is employed to describe the drought characteristics, considering the monthly rainfall data for the duration of 62 years (1951-2012). Rainfall during monsoon season contributes over 95% of the annual rainfall and thus, only monsoon season is considered for identifying the drought years. The entire duration of 62 years was divided into two epochs of 31 years i.e. 1951-1981 and 1982-2012. The results revealed that the rainfall over the district possesses remarkable inter-annual variability. The district is prone to droughts with a frequency of once in four years. More importantly, the comparative assessment of two epochs indicates an increase in frequency, severity, and persistence of droughts in the latter epoch. The frequency of droughts has tripled in 1982-2012 as compared to 1951-1981. Since Hoshangabad is a monsoon-dominated district with high agricultural importance, proper management strategies need to be devised to minimize the harmful consequences of droughts.