Flash Drought Response to Precipitation and Atmospheric Evaporative Demand in Spain

Bibliographic Details
Title: Flash Drought Response to Precipitation and Atmospheric Evaporative Demand in Spain
Authors: Iván Noguera, Fernando Domínguez-Castro, Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano
Source: Atmosphere, Vol 12, Iss 2, p 165 (2021)
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Meteorology. Climatology
Subject Terms: flash drought, sensitivity, atmospheric evaporative demand, precipitation, standardized drought indices, SPEI, Meteorology. Climatology, QC851-999
More Details: Flash drought is the result of strong precipitation deficits and/or anomalous increases in atmospheric evaporative demand (AED), which triggers a rapid decline in soil moisture and stresses vegetation over short periods of time. However, little is known about the role of precipitation and AED in the development of flash droughts. For this paper, we compared the standardized precipitation index (SPI) based on precipitation, the evaporative demand drought index (EDDI) based on AED, and the standardized evaporation precipitation index (SPEI) based on the differences between precipitation and AED as flash drought indicators for mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands for 1961–2018. The results show large differences in the spatial and temporal patterns of flash droughts between indices. In general, there was a high degree of consistency between the flash drought patterns identified by the SPI and SPEI, with the exception of southern Spain in the summer. The EDDI showed notable spatial and temporal differences from the SPI in winter and summer, while it exhibited great coherence with the SPEI in summer. We also examined the sensitivity of the SPEI to AED in each month of the year to explain its contribution to the possible development of flash droughts. Our findings showed that precipitation is the main driver of flash droughts in Spain, although AED can play a key role in the development of these during periods of low precipitation, especially in the driest areas and in summer.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2073-4433
Relation: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/2/165; https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4433
DOI: 10.3390/atmos12020165
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/84c22ac81ca640efb95dc41d123ee4e4
Accession Number: edsdoj.84c22ac81ca640efb95dc41d123ee4e4
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20734433
DOI:10.3390/atmos12020165
Published in:Atmosphere
Language:English