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Streamflow drought severity analysis by percent of normal index (PNI) in northwest Iran

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Abstract

The streamflow drought is the most important type of drought due to the high dependence of many activities on surface water resources. The streamflow drought severity was identified by the percent of normal index (PNI) in the western basins of the Lake Urmia located in northwest Iran. The streamflow records were obtained from 14 hydrometric stations for the period October 1975–September 2009. The temporal trends of the streamflow drought severity were detected by the parametric Student’s t test and the nonparametric Mann–Kendall and Sen’s tests. The worst streamflow droughts at almost all the stations occurred in 1999–2000 and 2000–2001. The streamflow drought severity based on the PNI increased during the last 34 years. The results also indicated that the temporal dependency of time series had a dominant role in detecting trend by the parametric Student’s t test.

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Acknowledgments

The paper is based on the research project funded by the Iran National Science Foundation (project no. 89004409). Data used in this study were made available by the West Azerbaijan Regional Water Co., Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Engineering, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran

    Jaefar Nikbakht

  2. Department of Irrigation, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, I. R. Iran

    Hossein Tabari

  3. Young Researchers Club, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

    P. Hosseinzadeh Talaee

Authors
  1. Jaefar Nikbakht
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  2. Hossein Tabari
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  3. P. Hosseinzadeh Talaee
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Correspondence to P. Hosseinzadeh Talaee.

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Nikbakht, J., Tabari, H. & Talaee, P.H. Streamflow drought severity analysis by percent of normal index (PNI) in northwest Iran. Theor Appl Climatol 112, 565–573 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0750-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0750-7

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