Spatio-temporal variations of meteorological drought using Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index in Iran

Drought is one of the most damaging natural hazards that it is placed in the first order in terms of both the frequency of occurrence and the magnitude of created damages. In this study, we used the standardized precipitation - evapotranspiration drought index (SPEI) for analysis of drought in the 54 synoptic stations for a 64 years (1951- 2014) period. For drought monitoring and regionalization, the SEPI values were calculated in 12, 24 and 48 months timescales. The trend of rainfall, temperature and SEPI was investigated using Mann-Kendall test during the study period. The results showed that an increasing trend for drought and temperature and decreasing trend for rainfall. Considering the correlation of drought and temperature, the findings of study confirmed that SEPI had a good performance for monitoring drought across Iran.