RESEARCH ARTICLE
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Agricultural Drought in Sri Lanka: 1881–2010
Thushara Gunda,
George M. Hornberger,
Jonathan M. Gilligan,
Corresponding Author
Thushara Gunda
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Correspondence to: T. Gunda, Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, PMB 407702, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7702, USA. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorGeorge M. Hornberger
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJonathan M. Gilligan
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Search for more papers by this authorThushara Gunda,
George M. Hornberger,
Jonathan M. Gilligan,
Corresponding Author
Thushara Gunda
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Correspondence to: T. Gunda, Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, PMB 407702, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7702, USA. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorGeorge M. Hornberger
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJonathan M. Gilligan
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Search for more papers by this authorABSTRACT
A spatiotemporal analysis of two well-known agricultural drought indices, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index at a 9-month scale (SPI-9), is presented for Sri Lanka. The analysis was conducted based on monthly precipitation and temperature data from January 1881 to December 2010 using 13 stations distributed across the three climatic zones of the country. Principal component analysis shows that the first two principal components of PDSI and SPI-9 are spatially comparable and could physically represent the two main monsoons. A wavelet analysis of these principal components' scores for both indices indicates a stronger association between the Northeastern monsoon and El-Niño in recent decades. Correlation analysis with agricultural metrics suggests that different indices might be appropriate for each of the climatic zones in Sri Lanka. PDSI correlated best with the intermediate zone districts; SPI-9 correlated best with the dry zone districts; but neither index correlated well with the wet zone districts.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| joc4365-sup-0001-FigureS1.pdfPDF document, 291 KB | Figure S1. Location map of 30 and 13 stations used to compare the effect of the number of stations on spatial patterns. |
| joc4365-sup-0002-FigureS2.pdfPDF document, 1.6 MB | Figure S2. Comparison results from spatial patterns derived with 30 stations vs 13 stations. |
| joc4365-sup-0003-TableS1.docxWord 2007 document , 15.3 KB | Table S1. Summary of meteorological stations. |
| joc4365-sup-0004-TableS2.docxWord 2007 document , 13.9 KB | Table S2. DesInventar metrics. |
| joc4365-sup-0005-TableS3.docxWord 2007 document , 17.8 KB | Table S3. Regression analyses conducted. |
| joc4365-sup-0006-TableS4.docxWord 2007 document , 15.2 KB | Table S4. Principal component variances. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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