An improvement of drought monitoring through the use of a multivariate magnitude index
Abstract
In drought monitoring activities it is widely acknowledged that the severity of an event is determined in relation to monthly values of univariate indices of one or more hydrological variables. Normally, these indices are estimated using temporal windows from 1 to 12 months or more to aggregate the effects of deficits in the variable of interest. However, the use of these temporal windows may lead to a misperception of both, the drought event intensity and the timing of its occurrence. In this context, this work presents the implementation of a trivariate drought magnitude index, considering key hydrological variables (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture and runoff) using for this the framework of the Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI). Despite the popularity and simplicity of the concept of drought magnitude for standardized drought indices, its implementation in drought monitoring and early warning systems has not been reported. This approach has been tested for operational purposes in the recently launched Multivariate Drought Monitor of Mexico (MOSEMM) and the results shows that the inclusion of a Magnitude index facilitates the drought detection and, thus, improves the decision making process for emergency managers.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFM.H11I1319R
- Keywords:
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- 1817 Extreme events;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1834 Human impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1996 Web Services;
- INFORMATICS