Seasonal trend indicators and return periods of meteorological drought in the Northern States of Mexico

Omar Llanes Cárdenas, Héctor J.Peinado Guevara, Jorge Montiel Montoya, Mariano Norzagaray Campos, Héctor A.González Ocampo, Samuel Campista León

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Meteorological drought is an atmospheric condition characterized by a deficiency in the amount of precipitation and increased evapotranspiration. We calculated the magnitudes of average annual seasonal trends (June to September) of the following drought indicators for 1970-2011: average temperature (Tavg), precipitation (Prec), potential evapotranspiration (PET), standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) on a 24-month scale (SPEI-24), and return periods (RP) of drought (SPEI-24). The indicators were calculated from records of daily Tavg and Prec obtained from 38 CONAGUA (National Water Commission) weather stations located in the northern states of Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Durango, Chihuahua, and Sonora. PET was calculated by the method of Thornthwaite; drought was calculated by the expression for SPEI-24 based on the calculation of deciles 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 of Prec; and the RP of SPEI-24 were calculated using the probability distribution function of Gumbel on time scales from 2 to 500 years. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall test was applied. The magnitude of change in the trends was estimated by Sen’s method for slopes. SPEI-24 showed positive and negative trends (-0.066 to 0.082). The results have predicted that there will be severe droughts in 2021 and 2036 in the states of Baja California Sur and Sinaloa.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1471-1484
Number of pages14
JournalPolish Journal of Environmental Studies
Volume26
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Precipitation deciles
  • Return periods
  • SPEI-24

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