The impact of the drought on south african wildlife. Hydrological drought forecasting in africa at different. This study contributes to the development of a modelling framework for hydrological drought forecasting in subsaharan africa as a step towards an effective early warning system. Challenges for drought mitigation in africa ephyslab.
Standardized drought indices sdi is commonly used method for drought. Accurate characterization of hydrological drought at regional level is challenging. In view of the even more severe drought conditions and water shortage that may be expected in subsaharan africa in the coming years, efforts should focus on improving drought management by ameliorating resilience and preparedness to drought. The proposed hydrological drought forecasting system makes use of a hydrological model that was found to be suitable for drought forecasting in africa and could represent the most severe past droughts in the limpopo basin. Meteorological and hydrological droughts in europe. Seibert et al statistical seasonal forecasting of hydrological drought in the limpopo basin and for end users to include uncertainty information in the decisionmaking process. Many of these impacts are associated with hydrological drought drought in rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Annual characterization of regional hydrological drought.
In this study, we proposed a hydrological drought index. Hydrological drought 1st edition hydrological drought 1st edition the book hydrological drought processes and estimation methods for streamflow and groundwater, edited by lena m. Assessment of hydrological drought revisited springerlink. The frequency and severity of hydrological drought is often defined on a watershed or river basin scale. These meteorological approaches were also used by garner et al. Because of this, it is very region specific what may be a meteorological drought in south africa wont necessarily be the same in canada. Many of these impacts are associated with hydrological drought drought.
Abstract droughts are an inevitable consequence of climate variability and are pervasive across many regions. For example, agricultural and hydrological droughts appear when the water shortage significantly affects the agricultural or hydrologic activity. The impact of drought on subsaharan african economies. Hydrological drought is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation including snowfall shortfalls on surface or subsurface water supply i. Vogt 1 executive summary of part i western cape province in south africa is going through a severe drought, affecting in particular the highly populated urban area of cape town and. The results show that human water consumption substantially reduced local and downstream stream. Hydrological drought forecasting and skill assessment for the limpopo river basin, southern africa. Hydrological hazards in vhembe district in limpopo. In view of the even more severe drought conditions and water shortage.
Hydrological drought forecasts show greater uncertainty than meteorological drought forecasting because of input and parameter uncertainties aghakouchak, 2014. Identification of potential drought areas in west africa under. Pdf drought, climate and hydrological conditions in. Types, causes and effects of droughts earth eclipse. Reliable hydrological drought forecasting is important for effective water management, as hydrological drought affects society more than other types of drought.
Analysis of drought progression physiognomies in south africa. Hydrological drought in tafna basinnorthwest of algeria. Africa has been severely affected by droughts in the past, contributing to food insecure conditions in several african countries. Probabilistic analysis of hydrological drought characteristics using meteorological drought. Agricultural drought this refers to the water needs of various crops at different stages of growth and links different characteristics of meteorological or hydrological drought to agricultural impacts. The proposed hydrological drought forecasting system makes use of a hydrological model that was found to be suitable for drought forecasting in africa and could. Drought characteristics and management in north africa and the. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the development and recovery of hydrological drought. Water, drought and desertification in africa 59 groundwater is replenished by infiltration of rainfall through the soil to the underlying aquifers. Drought is africas principal type of natural disaster. The meteorological drought of 1968 decreased the vegetation cover and by 1980 it had. Here, we quantify over the period 19602010 the impact of human water consumption on the intensity and frequency of hydrological drought worldwide. Recovery from hydrological drought is usually prolonged, considering the time it takes to recharge streams and lakes. Hydrological drought this kind of drought manifests when there is evidently low water supply, more so in natural rivers and lakes, reservoirs, streams, and groundwater levels.
Hydrological drought a comparative study using daily. Hydrological drought forecasting and skill assessment for the limpopo river basin, southern africa p. A variety of indices for characterising hydrological drought have been devised which, in general, are data demanding and computationally intensive. Based on monthly streamflow and precipitation data from 1960 to 2010 in the jinjiang river basin of china, standardized precipitation index spi and standardized streamflow index ssi were used to represent meteorological and hydrological drought, respectively. Title page abstract introduction conclusions references tables figures j i j i back close full screen esc printerfriendly version interactive discussion hydrol. Hydrological drought explained van loon 2015 wires. The 201820 southern africa drought is an ongoing period of drought taking place in southern africa. Drought is 10 a complex natural hazard, which is a composition of many factors such as hydrological, meteorological and agricultural.
A drought means a long period of dry weather during which the lack of rain results in a severe shortage of water. Ea has been the focus of various drought studies in recent years e. Drought has become more frequent and intense worldwide the horn of africa has been affected by droughts almost every year for the past 12 years. Hydrological drought forecasting in africa at different spatial and temporal scales ihe delft phd thesis series patricia m. Drought is a recurrent feature of the european climate that affects considerable fractions of the european population each year. Available studies project further increases in the frequency, duration and. Pdf on sep 1, 20, thian yew gan and others published drought, climate and hydrological conditions in africa. Increased precipitation variability, as a result of climate change, has made the need for better and more. Africa is a good example of great vulnerability to drought and desertification and a seemingly inability to manage these climate based issues. The dyk is a suite of notes that attempt to explain or clarify complex climate phenomena, climate monitoring products and methodologies, and climate system insights. Human water consumption intensifies hydrological drought. The frequency and severity of meteorological and hydrological droughts have increased in most parts of europe. To our knowledge, studies dwelling on the occurrence and propagation of drought in the hydrological cycle in south africa are either nonexistent or limited.
As of midaugust 2019, the drought is classified as a level 2 redclass event by the global disaster alert and coordination system. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region and harm to the local economy. The drought began in late october 2018, and is negatively affecting food security in the region. The south african weather service saws 2016b defines a meteorological drought on the basis of the degree of dryness in comparison to normal or average amounts of rainfall for a particular area or place and the duration of the dry period. On the other hand, there are indications of an effect of climate on drought deficit, because in many studies the deficit volume of hydrological drought is standardised by dividing by mean discharge to be able to compare catchments with different wetness clausen and pearson, 1995, kjeldsen et al. South africa is facing one of the worst droughts to hit the region in 30 years, affecting food production and prices, while many small farmers are. Infiltration being scanty and soil water shallow and only temporary, replenishing of aquifers occurs only in favourable places. Pdf drought is a complex natural hazard that impacts ecosystems and society in many. Seasonal forecasting of hydrological drought in the. Socioeconomic, when human activities are affected by reduced precipitation and related water availability. A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days. Hydrological drought a comparative study using daily discharge series from around the world referent. South africa grapples with worst drought in 30 years bbc. Drought is a complex natural hazard that impacts ecosystems and society in many ways.
Western cape province in south africa is going through a severe drought, affecting in particular the highly populated urban area of cape town and its water supply. Pdf hydrological drought download full pdf book download. On the contrary, for meteorological droughts very simple and effective indices such as the standardised precipitation index spi have been used. Hydrological drought download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. In view of the even more severe drought conditions and water. A drought or drouth is an event of prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric belowaverage precipitation, surface water or ground water. Subsaharan africa is particularly susceptible to the effects of hydrological extremes, such as drought, due to the high dependency of much of the population, and national economies, on agriculture. This can be achieved, for example, by providing probabilistic drought forecast information. Luvuvhu river catchment lrc within vdm figure 2 was selected as the study area.
Results showed that at short accumulation periods meteorological drought characteristics showed little spatial variability, whilst hydrological drought characteristics showed fewer but longer and more severe droughts in the south and east than in the north and west. A methodology for characterising the severity of hydrological droughts is proposed which uses an index. Hydrological drought severity explained by climate and. Article pdf available in hydrology and earth system sciences discussions 11 3 february 2014. Zolotokrylin encyclopedia of life support systems eolss agricultural, and hydrologic phenomena. Hydrological drought explained wiley online library. Hydrological drought forecasting and skill assessment for. Hydrological drought assessment is necessary because human activities depend on either surface water or groundwater resources 17. Pdf hydrological drought in tafna basinnorthwest of. Hydrological drought 1st edition european drought centre. Unlike meteorological droughts, hydrological droughts do not take place at the same time. Desertification on the other hand is defined as a process of land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid areas. Links various categories of meteorological and hydrological drought to agricultural impacts, focusing primarily on soil water deficits and differences between actual and potential evapotranspiration situations with insufficient soil moisture level to meet the plant needs during growing season. On the african continent, mean annual precipitation increases from less than 300.
The south african weather service defines a drought as a period of 12 moths when. A highly empirical, inductive approach is adopted to establish whether drought could be regarded as a phenomenon of economic significance, and, if so, the likely probabilistic nature of the. Drought is africa s principal type of natural disaster. Hydrological modeling for drought assessment sciencedirect. Hydrological, when deficiencies occur in surface and subsurface water supplies. The response of hydrological drought to meteorological drought under the influence of shanmei reservoir was investigated.
Response of hydrological drought to meteorological drought. Annual characterization of regional hydrological drought using. The current drought is the effect of a sustained belowaverage monthly rainfall series since 2015, which intensified in the last wet season april to september 2017. Recent years include the most dreadful droughts in the horn, and severe droughts in 2009 and.
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