Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Drought analysis in New Zealand using the standardized precipitation index

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present article investigates drought events in New Zealand through the application of the SPI at various timescales (3, 6, 12 and 24 months). First, a temporal analysis has been performed, and the most severe dry episodes have been detected. Then, the spatial distribution of the percentage of data falling within the different level of drought has been evaluated. In addition, a trend analysis has been conducted at seasonal scale, considering the wet and the dry seasons, and at annual scale. Finally, the relationship between drought and ENSO has been investigated. Results show that, in every area currently subject to drought, an increase in this phenomenon can be expected. Specifically, the results of this paper highlight that agricultural regions on the Eastern side, such as the Canterbury Plains, are the most consistently vulnerable areas, as well as other regions in the North Island, including primary industry regions like Waikato. Moreover, a clear link between drought and the two phases of the ENSO has been detected.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramowitz M, Stegun A (1965) Handbook of mathematical formulas, graphs, and mathematical tables. Dover Publications Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ackerley D, Dean S, Sood A, Mullan AB (2012) Regional climate modeling in NZ: comparison to gridded and satellite observations. Weather Clim 32:3–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Angelidis P, Maris F, Kotsovinos N, Hrissanthou V (2012) Computation of drought index SPI with alternative distribution functions. Water Resour Manag 26:2453–2473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayissa YA, Moges SA, Xuan Y, Van Andel SJ, Maskey S, Solomatine DP, Griensven A, Van Tadesse T (2015) Spatio-temporal assessment of meteorological drought under the influence of varying record length: the case of Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Hydrol Sci J 60:1927–1942

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonaccorso B, Bordi I, Cancelliere A, Rossi G, Sutera A (2003) Spatial variability of drought: an analysis of the SPI in Sicily. Water Resour Manag 17:273–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordi I, Fraedrich K, Sutera A (2009) Observed drought and wetness trends in Europe: an update. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 13:1519–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buttafuoco G, Caloiero T (2014) Drought events at different timescales in southern Italy (Calabria). J Maps 10:529–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buttafuoco G, Caloiero T, Coscarelli R (2015) Analyses of drought events in Calabria (southern Italy) using standardized precipitation index. Water Resour Manag 29:557–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caloiero T (2014) Analysis of daily rainfall concentration in New Zealand. Nat Hazards 72:389–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caloiero T (2017) Trend of monthly temperature and daily extreme temperature during 1951–2012 in New Zealand. Theor Appl Climatol 129:111–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caloiero T, Sirangelo B, Coscarelli R, Ferrari E (2016) An analysis of the occurrence probabilities of wet and dry periods through a stochastic monthly rainfall model. Water 8:39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capra A, Scicolone B (2012) Spatiotemporal variability of drought on a short–medium time scale in the Calabria region (Southern Italy). Theor Appl Climatol 3:471–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark A, Mullan A, Porteous A (2011) Scenarios of regional drought under climate change. NIWA Client Report WLG2012-32. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington

  • Dravitzki S, McGregor J (2011) Extreme precipitation of the Waikato region, New Zealand. Int J Climatol 31:1803–1812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards D, McKee T (1997) Characteristics of 20th century drought in the United States at multiple scale. Atmos Sci Pap 634:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Estrela T, Vargas E (2012) Drought management plans in the European Union. Water Resour Manag 26:1537–1553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang K, Gou X, Chen F, Davi N, Liu C (2013) Spatiotemporal drought variability for central and eastern Asia over the past seven centuries derived from tree-ring based reconstructions. Quat Int 283:107–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng S, Hu Q, Oglesby RJ (2011) Influence of Atlantic sea surface temperatures on persistent drought in North America. Clim Dyn 37:569–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier B (1950) New Zealand weather and climate. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd, Christchurch

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths G (2007) Changes in New Zealand daily rainfall extremes 1930–2004. Weather Clim 27:3–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths GM (2011) Drivers of extreme daily rainfall in New Zealand. Weather Clim 31:24–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths GM, Salinger MJ, Leleu I (2003) Trends in extreme daily rainfall across the South Pacific and relationship to the South Pacific convergence zone. Int J Climatol 23:847–869

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannaford J, Lloyd-Hughes B, Keef C, Parry S, Prudhomme C (2011) Examining the large-scale spatial coherence of European drought using regional indicators of precipitation and streamflow deficit. Hydrol Process 25:1146–1162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hua T, Wang XM, Zhang CX, Lang LL (2013) Temporal and spatial variations in the palmer drought severity index over the past four centuries in arid, semiarid, and semihumid East Asia. Chin Sci Bull 58:4143–4152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Liu F, Xue Y, Sun SL (2015) The spatial and temporal analysis of precipitation concentration and dry spell in Qinghai, Northwest China. Stoch Environ Res Risk 29:1403–1411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2013) Summary for policymakers. Fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York

  • Jiang N, Griffiths G, Lorrey A (2013) Influence of large-scale climate modes on daily synoptic weather types over New Zealand. Int J Climatol 33:499–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamber G, McDonald C, Price G (2013) Drying out: Investigating the economic effects of drought in New Zealand. Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Wellington

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendall MG (1962) Rank correlation methods. Hafner Publishing Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MAF (2009) Regional and national impacts of the 2007–2008 drought. Butcher Partners Ltd, Tai Tapu

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann HB (1945) Nonparametric tests against trend. Econometrica 13:245–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKee TB, Doesken NJ, Kleist J (1993) The relationship of drought frequency and duration to time scale. In: preprints eighth conference on applied climatology, Anaheim, The American Meteor Society, pp 179–184

  • McKee TB, Doesken NJ, Kleist J (1995) Drought monitoring with multiple time scales. In: Preprints ninth conference on applied climatology, Dallas, The American Meteor Society, pp 233–236

  • Minetti JL, Vargas WM, Poblete AG, de la Zerda LR, Acuña LR (2010) Regional droughts in southern South America. Theor Appl Climatol 102:403–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullan B, Porteous A, Wratt D, Hollis M (2005) Changes in drought risk with climate change. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Drought_Report_Final.pdf. Accessed 26 May 2017

  • NIWA (2013) Overview of New Zealand Climate. http://www.niwa.co.nz/education-and-training/schools/resources/climate/overview. Accessed 26 May 2017

  • Oliver JE (2005) Encyclopedia of world climatology. Springer, Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer JG, Cook ER, Turney CSM, Allen K, Fenwick P, Cook B, O’Donnell AJ, Lough JM, Grierson PFG, Baker P (2015) Drought variability in the eastern Australia and New Zealand summer drought atlas (ANZDA, CE 1500–2012) modulated by the interdecadal Pacific oscillation. Environ Res Lett 10:124002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salinger MJ, Mullan AB (1999) New Zealand climate: temperature and precipitation variations and their links with atmospheric circulation 1930–1994. Int J Climatol 19:1049–1071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salinger M, Basher R, Fitzharris B, Hay J, Jones P, Macveigh J, Schmidely-Leleu I (1995) Climate trends in the South-West Pacific. Int J Climatol 15:285–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair MR (1994) An objective cyclone climatology for the Southern Hemisphere. Mon Weather Rev 122:2239–2256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair MR (1995a) A climatology of cyclogenesis for the Southern Hemisphere. Mon Weather Rev 123:1601–1619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair MR (1995b) An extended climatology of extratropical cyclones over the Southern Hemisphere. Weather Climate 15:21–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Sirangelo B, Caloiero T, Coscarelli R, Ferrari E (2015) A stochastic model for the analysis of the temporal change of dry spells. Stoch Environ Res Risk 29:143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirangelo B, Caloiero T, Coscarelli R, Ferrari E (2017) Stochastic analysis of long dry spells in Calabria (Southern Italy). Theor Appl Climatol 127:711–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabari H, Abghari H, Hosseinzadeh Talaee P (2012) Temporal trends and spatial characteristics of drought and rainfall in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Hydrol Process 26:3351–3361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thom HCS (1958) A note on the gamma distribution. Mon Weather Rev 86:117–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson AI (1976) Climate. In: Ward I (ed) New Zealand atlas. Government Printer, Wellington, pp 82–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth KE (1991) Storm tracks in the Southern Hemisphere. J Atmos Sci 48:2159–2178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsakiris G, Pangalou D, Vangelis H (2007) Regional drought assessment based on the reconnaissance drought index (RDI). Water Resour Manag 21:821–833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM (2005) El Niño and La Niña influence on droughts at different timescales in the Iberian Peninsula. Water Resour Res 41:W12415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM (2006) Differences in spatial patterns of drought on different time sales. An analysis of the Iberian Peninsula. Water Resour Manag 20:37–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G (2005) Agricultural drought in a future climate: results from 15 global climate models participating in the IPCC 4th assessment. Clim Dyn 25:739–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhite DA, Hayes MJ, Svodoba MD (2000) Drought monitoring and assessment in the U.S. In: Voght JV, Somma F (eds) Drought and drought mitigation in Europe. Kluwers, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Hayes MJ, Wilhite DA, Svoboda MD (2005) The effect in the length of record in the standardized precipitation index calculation. Int J Climatol 25:505–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere Research for providing access to the New Zealand meteorological data from the National Climate Database.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council (CNR), Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean (ISAFOM), Via Cavour 4/6, 87036, Rende, CS, Italy

    Tommaso Caloiero

Authors
  1. Tommaso Caloiero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tommaso Caloiero.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Caloiero, T. Drought analysis in New Zealand using the standardized precipitation index. Environ Earth Sci 76, 569 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6909-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6909-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation