TREND DETECTION OF METROLOGICAL DROUGHT IN NORTH OF IRAQ

Abstract

This study presents an analysis of meteorological drought using multi time-scales of Standardized Precipitation Index SPI (6, 9 and 12 month), based on observed 49-year daily mean precipitation data records at 11 stations over the Northern region of Iraq. The detection of drought trends in results of SPI analysis was studied to identify whether there is any increase or decrease in the severity of drought at the selected meteorological Stations; Mann Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator were used to detect statistically significant trends. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant decreasing trend of SPI time series at 5% significant level in most of the selected stations. Based on drought categories the meteorological drought in the study region can be classified as mild drought.

Keywords

• trend detection
• standardized precipitation index
• mann-kendall
• meteorological drought