Title: Spatial and temporal analysis of rainfall and drought in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra

Authors: Chandrakant M. Kadam; Udhav V. Bhosle; Raghunath S. Holambe

Addresses: Department of Instrumentation Engineering, Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vishnupuri, Nanded, Maharashtra, 431606, India ' Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra, 431606, India ' Department of Instrumentation Engineering, Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vishnupuri, Nanded, Maharashtra, 431606, India

Abstract: Among natural disasters, drought is perhaps the most precarious. Predicting and monitoring drought is still a challenge. Droughts begin with a deficit in precipitation over a region. The standardised precipitation index (SPI) was chosen. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recommends this precipitation-based index. The spatial and temporal features of a drought in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India, were studied. A comprehensive characterisation of drought is presented, including attributes such as frequency, duration, and intensity. Drought characteristics were assessed at multiple time scales and analysed across different drought types across a region during the study period. Drought intensities have been observed to range from 39% to 59%. Drought was found to be the most severe and affected the entire region during certain years, including 1992, 1993, 2004, and 2016. This analysis will contribute to a better understanding of the region's drought as a regional phenomenon.

Keywords: drought; drought monitoring; standardised precipitation index; meteorological drought; drought intensity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2022.130826

International Journal of Water, 2022 Vol.15 No.1, pp.53 - 73

Received: 26 Apr 2022
Accepted: 04 Oct 2022
Published online: 11 May 2023 *

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