Assessment of the Drought Crisis Threshold of in the Fars provice of Using the Standard Precipitation Index and the Geographic Information System

Authors

Abstract

Precipitation data were collected from 33 synoptic and rain gauge station of the Fars province for the 1971-2008 period. The standard Precipitation index (SPI) was used to identify the short (1, 3, 6 mounths) and long (12, 24, 48 mounths) time drought periods. The geographic information system (GIS) was used in delineating the drought crisis threshold (DCT) for different regions of the province. It was observed that moderate intensity droughts rank most in the province ranging 17 – 46% Droughts lasting one year was the most prolific, and those lasting 4- 5 years had the least abundance. The DCT for the winter precipitation ranged 267-478 mm for the higher rainfall regions, and 56-162 mm for the lower rainfall regions. Generally, the southern, easthern, and part of the wester and central regions of the province experience more droughty periods than the rest of the province