A spatio-temporal drought analysis for the midwestern US

Shih Chieh Kao, Rao S. Govindaraju, Dev Niyogi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Droughts are prolonged abnormalities of moisture deficits that vary widely across temporal and spatial scales. Many hydrometeorologic variables are used to monitor the status of a drought. However, because of the dependence structure between all affecting variables under various temporal windows, an integrated spatio-temporal analysis of droughts cannot be easily achieved. In this study, a copula-based drought analysis was performed by using long-term monthly precipitation dataset for the upper Midwest United States. The spatio-temporal dependence relationships between various drought variables were investigated, and their joint probability distribution was constructed by combining drought marginals and the dependence structure. A copula-based joint deficit index (JDI) was adopted for an objective (probability-based) description of the overall drought status and compared to the Palmer drought severity index results. Results from the copula-based JDI provide information for drought identification, and further allow a month-by-month assessment for future drought recovery.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009
Subtitle of host publicationGreat Rivers
Pages4654-4663
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
EventWorld Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers - Kansas City, MO, United States
Duration: May 17 2009May 21 2009

Publication series

NameProceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers
Volume342

Conference

ConferenceWorld Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKansas City, MO
Period05/17/0905/21/09

Keywords

  • Copulas
  • Drought
  • Palmer drought severity index
  • Standardized precipitation index

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