Assessment of PDI, MPDI and TVDI drought indices derived from MODIS Aqua/Terra Level 1B data in natural lands

Samaneh Zormand, Reza Jafari () and Saeed Soltani Koupaei
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Samaneh Zormand: Isfahan University of Technology
Reza Jafari: Isfahan University of Technology
Saeed Soltani Koupaei: Isfahan University of Technology

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2017, vol. 86, issue 2, No 13, 757-777

Abstract: Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate the potential of remote sensing indices including the perpendicular drought index (PDI), modified perpendicular drought index (MPDI) and temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) in drought monitoring in the northeast of Iran during 2003–2013. The mentioned indices were extracted from 254 atmospherically corrected MODIS images, and their accuracy was determined against soil moisture data and also standardized precipitation index (SPI) at monthly and yearly scales. The 1-, 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month SPI was obtained from 42 weather stations. According to the results, although the MODIS-derived drought indices had different efficiencies at different time scales, they could generally better reflect drought conditions at the yearly scale compared to the monthly scale. At the monthly scale, the PDI, MPDI and TVDI had the greatest correlations with the SPI during the 6-, 9- and 3-month periods ending in February, September and April (−0.60, −0.69 and −0.43, respectively). At the yearly scale, the PDI, MPDI and TVDI had the strongest correlation coefficients with the 6-, 6-, 3-month SPI in 2012 (−0.95), 2012 (−0.96) and 2007 (−0.72), respectively. Moreover, the high correlations (>80%) between the MODIS-derived drought indices and soil moisture data reflected their potential in the mapping of soil moisture in the study area. Considering the constant performance of the MPDI in different time scales, this index can be used as a suitable alternative to the SPI in agricultural drought mapping and monitoring in arid and semiarid areas where the SPI faces certain limitations.

Keywords: Drought monitoring; PDI; MPDI; TVDI; SPI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2715-0

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