Meteorological and Hydrological Drought Assessment for Dong Nai River Basin, Vietnam under Climate Change

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to examine future changes in meteorological, hydrological drought under the impact of climate change in Dong Nai River Basin, using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Stream flow Drought Index (SDI). The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used as a simulated tool to estimate the streamflow in baseline (1980–2005) and climate change (RCP 4.5, 2016–2035) scenarios for meteorological, hydrological calculation. The results show that both types of drought tend to occur in the dry season. The area affected by meteorological and hydrological drought expand in both baseline and RCP 4.5 scenarios. In addition, meteorological drought duration is also significantly increased, especially severely drought months. Although it was detected slightly decreasing in the duration of hydrological drought, the number of months which is occurred moderately drought in sub-basins still goes up in the climate change scenario. These findings could be useful for water shortage assessment and allocation planning in this area in the climate change context in the Dong Nai River Basin.