Authors : Ali Rezvani Mahmouei, Mohsen Rezaee and Mohammad Arjmand
Abstract: Meteorological drought as a creeping phenomenon is considered as one of the most destructive natural disasters in various regions of Iran. The first step for management of drought phenomenon to reduce its harmful effects is to monitor and evaluate drought based on the indices by which one can quantify the mentioned phenomenon in terms of the its intensity and continuity in one region. The aim of this study is to examine the drought situation of Qaenat City located in South Khorasan Province as one of the strategic regions of East of the country which has been affected by the phenomenon in recent years. In this regard, after examining the quantity and quality of the rainfall statistics of the synoptic station of Qaen as the representative of the region under study during the period of water years 1989-1990 and 2013-2014, the drought situation was studied using the indices of percent normal precipitation index, standardization precipitation index, deciles ofprecipitation index and rainfall anomaly index. Based on the results, the mentioned indices described drought of the region with nearly identical features and since water year 1999-2000 drought has become a dominant phenomenon in the climate of the region and unfortunately due to lack of management of water resources consumption especially in the agriculture section, the condition of the water resources of the region has changed to the forbidden state. Presence of successive mild droughts after aperiod of intense drought in the region is possibly indicative of substitution of mild drought by wet periods.
Ali Rezvani Mahmouei, Mohsen Rezaee and Mohammad Arjmand, 2016. Evaluation of the Meteorological Drought Phenomenon by Using Four Indices of Drought (Case Study: Qaenat City in South Khorasan Province). Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 11: 339-345.