Different Agricultural Responses to Extreme Drought Events in Neighboring Counties of South and North Korea

Jae-Hyun Ryu,Sungwook Hong,Yang-Won Lee,Jaeil Cho,Kyung-Soo Han,Chu-Yong Chung,No-Wook Park

doi:10.3390/rs11151773

Abstract

Satellite-based remote sensing techniques have been widely used to monitor droughts spanning large areas. Various agricultural drought indices have been developed to assess the intensity of agricultural drought and to detect damaged crop areas. However, to better understand the responses of agricultural drought to meteorological drought, agricultural management practices should be taken into consideration. This study aims to evaluate the responses to drought under different forms of agricultural management for the extreme drought that occurred on the Korean Peninsula in 2014 and 2015. The 3-month standardized precipitation index (SPI3) and the 3-month vegetation health index (VHI3) were selected as a meteorological drought index and an agricultural drought index, respectively. VHI3, which comprises the 3-month temperature condition index (TCI3) and the 3-month vegetation condition index (VCI3), differed significantly in the study area during the extreme drought. VCI3 had a different response to the lack of precipitation in South and North Korea because it was affected by irrigation. However, the time series of TCI3 were similar in South and North Korea. These results meant that each drought index has different characteristics and should be utilized with caution. Our results are expected to help comprehend the responses of the agricultural drought index on meteorological drought depending on agricultural management.

Highlights

Drought is a common climatic phenomenon in most climatic regimes
Agricultural drought is caused by long-lasting meteorological drought, the damage assessment from agricultural aspect is highly dependent on the cropping ability and resilience of the farming system [9]
The different agricultural responses to meteorological drought due to different cropland managements were identified in the neighboring counties of South and North Korea, which have similar climate conditions

Summary

Introduction

Drought is a common climatic phenomenon in most climatic regimes. in some cases, it can be a critical natural hazard that affects agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic systems [1,2]. The limitation of water supply caused by drought can occur over a broad spectrum in a large-scale area for a long-term period [3,4]. The growth and development of crops and crop yields suffer under the conditions of a continual meteorological drought [6] Such agricultural drought is caused by reductions in the soil moisture in farmland and the water sources for irrigation, such as streams, reservoirs, and groundwater [7]. Agricultural drought is caused by long-lasting meteorological drought, the damage assessment from agricultural aspect is highly dependent on the cropping ability and resilience of the farming system [9] This means that, to identify the different sensitivities of drought on croplands, dry climatic conditions and cropland conditions and agricultural management need to be investigated

Objectives

Results

Conclusion