Application of Earth Observation Data and Standardized Precipitation Index Based Approach for Meteorological Drought Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction Over Kutch, Gujarat, India

Year 2016, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 24 - 37, 02.08.2016

Sumanta Das Malini Roy Choudhury Sujay Gandhi Viral Joshi

https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.306468

Cited By: 7

Abstract

Drought is a natural phenomenon which differs from other natural hazards by its slow accumulating process
and its indefinite commencement and termination. The present study addresses water deficiency and drought
occurrence over Kutch district, Gujarat, because nearly 45% of the whole Kutch district is severely suffering by
deficiency of water. Earth observation data (LANDSAT ETM+) and Standardized Precipitation Index were
used to analyze drought severity. Daily rainfall data over the study area were obtained from Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) for the period of study (1990-2014) and geo-referenced for further analyses.
Using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques, rainfall variability map over the period of study has been prepared
to show rainfall distribution and land use and land cover map is prepared to show the area under different land
use classes and impacts of drought over land uses. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was generated for
each block wise and scenario of drought development has been analyzed using decadal data set for the study
period (1990-2014). The present study suggests method and techniques for continuous drought monitoring by
linking temporal earth observation and rainfall data. The methodology will be very useful for the development
of a regional drought monitoring system.

Keywords

Drought, SPI, drought severity, Rainfall variability

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