Comparison of Meteorological and Agricultural Drought in the Nitra River Basin in 2014–2020

Abstract

Aim of the study: Droughts are one of the more costly natural hazards on a year-to-year basis. Their impacts are significant and widespread, affecting many economic sectors and people at any one time (WMO & GWP, 2016). In our paper we will focus on the comparison of meteorological drought (precipitation) and agricultural drought (available soil water) in the Nitra River basin, Slovakia. Material and methods: Data from the Nitra River Basin were provided from the meteorological stations (Svinná, Bystričany, Solčany, Veľké Ripňany, Jelenec and Pribeta ) of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. The meteorological drought is defined as a period with no precipitation (Petrovič, 1960). Agricultural drought was determined as the value below the amount of water storage in the soil profile (0.20 m) accessible to plants. Results and conclusions: We focused on the comparison of meteorological drought and the number of days with both type of drought is from year 2014 increasing. The worst year was 2018 in every meteorological station, when the agricultural drought was with short interruptions from sprig to winter. This trend can also be seen in the countries neighbouring Slovakia - Poland, Hungary or Czech Republic.