Characterizing temporal and spatial variability of meteorological drought in Hanoi city, Vietnam

Abstract

    For the last decades, Hanoi city (HN), Vientam has suffered a series of super extreme meteorological droughts and resulting in tremendous socio-economic losses. This study analyzed the temporal and spatial variations of meteorological drought in HN from 1980 to 2014. Based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI) that was calculated from 24 precipitation monitoring stations, three time scales (month, year and decade) for the meteorological drought frequency (DF) and meteorological drought area were applied to estimate the spatio-temporal structure of meteorological droughts by employing ArcGis 10.3. A time-series analysis showed that winter droughts and spring droughts occurred frequently for almost half of the year from November to May. Summer droughts occasionally occurred in severe drought decades: the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. During the period of observation, the percent of meteorological drought area in Hanoi city increased from the 1980s (<8%) to the 1990s (>13%). The highest drought area of 54% total areas was affected by drought in the hydrological year of 1992-1993, when the area experienced its most severe drought both in terms of area and severity.