Introduction and Assessment of a New Drought Monitoring Index, MRDI (Case Study: Gorganroud Basin, Iran)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MSc Student of Water Resources Engineering, University of Tehran

2 Associate Professor, Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering Department, University of Tehran

3 Assistant Professor, Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering Department, University of Tehran

Abstract

In order to avoid drought effects, it is essential to detect and monitor the spatial and
temporal changes of the phenomenon. In General, drought indices are made use of to
achieve the goals. The main aim followed in this paper is to introduce and assess a new
drought index termed MRDI. MRDI (Modified Reconnaissance Drought Index) is then
compared with Modified Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), as based on the
Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI),
involving a well-known statistical technique named Principal Component Analysis
(PCA). Gorganroud basin, Iran, is taken as a Case Study. According to the obtained
results, the new MRDI and also MSPI multivariate indices have shown to be of more
accurate results and are also easier to use than the SPI and RDI univariant indices. A
comparison of MRDI and MSPI results, as based upon the non-parametric Kolmogorov–
Smirnov test in Gorganroud basin, has revealed that, there is no significant difference
between them with their behavior similar in more than 90% of the cases. An evaluation
and verification of the results of the study needs to be repeated in other representative
basins.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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