Spatio-temporal characteristics of meteorological drought in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

This study analysed spatio-temporal fluctuations in rainfall to assess drought and wet spells in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Temporal changes in rainfall were assessed using a linear regression method, while aridity conditions at each meteorological station were measured using the United Nations Environment Programme climate aridity index. In this study, drought and wet spell patterns were identified using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The Spearman’s Rho (SR) test was applied to find trends in the temporal 1-month and 12-month SPEI data. Balakot, Dir, Kakul, Kalam, Malam Jabba, Parachinar, Patan and Saidu were humid whereas Cherat and Timergara were sub-humid meteorological stations while Bannu, Chitral, Drosh and Peshawar were semi-arid and D.I. Khan was found to be the only arid meteorological station in the study area. The regression results revealed that the amount of rainfall is decreasing at Balakot, Kakul and Dir, while in the southern part of the province the amount of rainfall is increasing, such as in Parachinar and Cherat. The SPEI results revealed distinct drought spells in 1971–1974, 1984–1989, 1998–2004 and recently in 2017–2018, in almost all met-stations results. The SR results indicated a significant wet trend at met-station Parachinar, located in the west, while a significant drying trend has been noted at Balakot in the north-eastern part of the study area. Detailed knowledge about rainfall variability can provide a foundation for the planning and use of water resources.

Trends of Rainfall Variability and Drought Monitoring Using Standardized Precipitation Index in a Scarcely Gauged Basin of Northern Pakistan

“…Drought causes significant socioeconomic and environmental impacts in a large area or in a region [9]. Droughts occur as a consequence of rainfall deficiency compared with the average for a season or years [10,11]. Less rainfall and high temperature lead to shortage of water and consequently result in drought, which causes severe impacts on the community and poses serious threats to the environment as well as economy [12][13][14].…”

Spatiotemporal Rainfall Variability and Drought Assessment during Past Five Decades in South Korea Using SPI and SPEI

“…PET can be calculated using various parameters, i.e., temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, air water vapor, and sensible and latent heat flux. However, most of the meteorological stations in the world do not record this kind of data [3]. So as a proxy, we calculated the PET using the Hargreaves method [54], which requires temperature data and the latitude of the concerned meteorological station.…”

“…Drought is one of the most frequently occurring and severe hydrometeorological phenomena, resulting from a decrease in rainfall from normal conditions, causing water scarcity for various water-dependent activities [1,2]. Drought is a costly and destructive hazard with an extensive impact on the environment, socioeconomics, and populations around the globe [3,4]. Due to the shift in climatological patterns (rainfall and temperature), droughts are occurring more frequently [5,6].…”

“…Drought is a slow onset event with effects can be seen even after the end of the event, which makes it difficult to identify the start and end of it [8][9][10]. Drought is characterized into four types, deficit of rainfall from its average, initiating meteorological drought [3,11], which leads to a dearth of streamflow and causes a decline in water in reservoirs, named as hydrological drought [12]. Thus, water shortfall for agricultural needs lead to agricultural drought and less soil moisture affect crops and their yield, causing starvation, which can ultimately trigger socioeconomic drought [9,13].…”

Monitoring of Land Use–Land Cover Change and Potential Causal Factors of Climate Change in Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan, through GIS and Multi-Temporal Satellite Data

“…Several such types of attempts to assess and manage LULC changes and degradation using RS data were explored by various researchers from countries around the world [46], such as northwest Ethiopia [4], West Africa [7], Ethiopia [11], Malaysia [12], Zimbabwe [17], Bangladesh [21], Southern Africa [30], Iran [37], Nepal [39], China [40], northern Ethiopia [42], Brazil [47], Iraq [48], and Turkey [49]. Pakistan is regarded as one of the agricultural countries in the world which are directly influenced by climatic fluctuations, which ultimately affect the economy of lowland farmers.…”