TITLE:
Exploratory Analysis of Algeria Meteorological Drought Using SPI and SPEI
AUTHORS:
Imen Choutri, Awad Hussien
KEYWORDS:
Algeria, Famine, SPI, SPEI, Thornthwaite Method
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
30,
2024
ABSTRACT: Drought frequency has increased worldwide in recent years due to global warming, causing famine, water shortage, and economic loss. This paper aimed to assess the meteorological drought in Algeria, using two globally accepted drought indices, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The SPI and SPEI at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month timescale were obtained to analyze the temporal variability of different drought levels. Pearson correlation was employed to explore relationships between SPI and SPEI values. The results show that the period 1999 to 2001, 2009, 2010 and 2016 years are observed as drought periods by both indices for all timescales. As indicated by both SPI and SPEI indices at different timescales the year after which the intensity and duration of drought notably increased was 1999. A negative trend of both the indices has been observed in all timescales, which clearly shows a transition from near normal to moderately dry during the selected time period. The highest correlation between both indices is for the 3-month scale with (r = 0.73). The main outcome of this study is that both SPI and SPEI show a strong correlation at the same time scales adopted in this study. The dependency of SPEI on temperature is also observed in this study. These findings highlight the consistency in identifying severe drought periods by both SPI and SPEI indices.