Abstract
The process of propagation from meteorological to hydrological drought is studied using the Vistula basin in Poland (193,960 km2) as a case study. The study aims to set a background for the analysis of processes influencing drought propagation in the basin, including the availability of data on hydro-meteorological factors, groundwater, and major human activities that might influence the water cycle in the region. A recent history of drought events in the basin is derived based on a statistical analysis of flow measured at nine gauging stations located along the river, starting from upstream downwards in the 1951–2018 period. The study is enhanced by the analysis of the temporal and spatial variability of a number of drought indices. As a result, the factors affecting temporal and spatial variability of drought—with particular emphasis on the interaction between the variability induced by natural processes and human interaction—are identified. The drought dynamics is studied by analysis of the relationships between meteorological and hydrological drought indices. The results indicate that the Vistula River basin has been influenced in its upstream part mainly by the mining industry, and the middle and downstream parts are additionally affected by industry and agriculture.
Highlights
Drought events are difficult to define before they are over
The analysis presented here includes an application of statistical analysis of mass curves of mean annual (MQ) and mean seasonal flow and annual and seasonal minimum flow in the reduced variable coordinates along the course of the Vistula River, baseflow, and standardized drought indices
The hydrological data from nine gauging stations situated along the course of the Vistula for the 1951–2018 period were used in this study (Figure 2, Table 2), as well as several selected precipitation stations distributed within the Vistula basin with the 1951–2019 observation period (Table 1)
Summary
The decrease in precipitation over a longer period of time provides conditions that may lead to drought, but there are other factors that affect drought occurrence and dynamics. It is a very complex phenomenon in the sense that many factors have an influence on drought conditions and those factors are interrelated. The water is pumped from the available surface water resources and groundwater Those resources are depleted and their depletion deepens the deficits of natural water resources in the area. This is an example of a local feedback mechanism. There are global feedback mechanisms that act over areas of thousands of square kilometers (e.g., the Amazon rainforest)
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