DROUGHT ASSESSMENT OF IRAN USING THE MDI INDEX

Abstract. Drought is one of the most common natural phenomena. Many indices using multiple data types have been created, and their success at recognizing periods of extreme wetness and dryness has been well documented. The merit of the method is the utilization of terrestrial water storage (TWS) variations from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) quantification of drought intensity. Alongside with these observations, we add precipitation data to equations. In this study, we analyze Merged-dataset Drought index (MDI) using GRACE-derived TWSA and precipitation in Iran, where most of the area is desert and mountain in the middle and South of the country. Our sample period is from January 2003 to December 2014. MDI shows a strong correlation with existing drought indices, especially with the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Based on the obtained results, MDI indicates a moderate Drought event in 2008 and 2012–2015, which is compatible with the recorded result of PDSI. The longest drought took 22 months (from January 2008 to October 2009). Interestingly, the coefficient of correlation between MDI and PDSI is 0.67.