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Comparative evaluation of drought indices for monitoring drought based on remote sensing data

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Abstract

Many indices are used to monitor drought events. However, different indices have different data requirements and applications. Hence, evaluating their applicability will help to characterize drought events and refine the development of effective drought indices. We constructed different drought indices based on multisource remote sensing data and comprehensively evaluated and compared their applicability for drought monitoring throughout China. The characteristics of drought events in 2009 and 2011 were compared using various drought indices. The different time scales of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were used to evaluate remote sensing drought indices in different regions. Single drought indices, including the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), the Temperature Condition Index (TCI) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, the Precipitation Condition Index (PCI) derived from Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) data, and the TCI and Soil Moisture Condition Index (SMCI) derived from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) data, as well as combined drought indices, including the Microwave Integrated Drought Index (MIDI), Optimized Vegetation Drought Index (OVDI), Optimized Meteorological Drought Index (OMDI), Scale Drought Conditions Index (SDCI), and Synthesized Drought Index (SDI), were analyzed and compared to evaluate their applicability. The results showed that different drought indices have specific characteristics under different land use types in China. The VCI and TCI can better monitor long-term drought conditions, but they have a weak correlation with the in situ drought index in forestland and grassland areas. The correlation of SPI-1 with the PCI is higher than that with other single indices, which indicates that the PCI is a good short-term drought index. The SMCI has a better correlation with the short-term in situ drought index, but it is not conducive to drought monitoring in areas such as densely forested land and grassland. The correlations of the in situ drought index with the combined drought indices (the MIDI, OVDI, OMDI, SDCI, and SDI) are better than those with the single drought indices.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41861040 and 41761047) and Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (grant number 1506RJZA129).

Funding

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41861040 and 41761047) and Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (grant number 1506RJZA129).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China

    Wei Wei, Jing Zhang, Junju Zhou & Chuanhua Li

  2. Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Liang Zhou

  3. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Liang Zhou

  4. School of Urban Economics and Tourism Culture, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China

    Binbin Xie

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  1. Wei Wei
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Contributions

Wei Wei and Jing Zhang participated in the design of this study, and they both performed the statistical analysis. Wei Wei carried out the study and collected important background information. Jing Zhang drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Liang Zhou and Binbin Xie carried out the concepts, definition of intellectual content, literature search, data acquisition, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Junju Zhou and Chuanhua Li provided assistance for data acquisition, data analysis, and statistical analysis. Liang Zhou and Binbin Xie carried out data acquisition and manuscript editing.  Liang Zhou performed manuscript review. All authors have read and approved the content of the manuscript. 

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Wei, W., Zhang, J., Zhou, L. et al. Comparative evaluation of drought indices for monitoring drought based on remote sensing data. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 20408–20425 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12120-0

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