Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological Drought in Slovenia Using the Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI)
1
Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
2
Slovenian Environment Agency, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Hossein Tabari
Water 2021, 13(22), 3197; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223197
Received: 19 October 2021
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Revised: 8 November 2021
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Accepted: 11 November 2021
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Published: 11 November 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)
Drought is a complex phenomenon with high spatial and temporal variability. Water scarcity has become a growing problem in Slovenia in recent decades. Therefore, the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological drought was investigated in this study by analysing the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). Monthly discharge data series from 46 gauging stations for the period 1961–2016 were used to calculate SSI values at five different time scales (1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months). The results indicate that the frequency and intensity of droughts in Slovenia has increased in recent decades at most of the analysed gauging stations and at all time scales considered. Spring and summer periods were identified as critical in terms of water deficit. SSI values vary independently from the location of the gauging station, confirming that drought is a regional phenomenon, even in a small country such as Slovenia. However, SSI values vary considerably depending on the time scale chosen. This was also confirmed by the results of the hierarchical clustering of the number of extreme droughts, as various time scales resulted in a different distribution of gauging stations by individual groups.
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Keywords:
hydrological drought; Standardised Streamflow Index; SSI; hierarchical clustering; seasonality
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MDPI and ACS Style
Zalokar, L.; Kobold, M.; Šraj, M. Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological Drought in Slovenia Using the Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI). Water 2021, 13, 3197. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223197
AMA Style
Zalokar L, Kobold M, Šraj M. Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological Drought in Slovenia Using the Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI). Water. 2021; 13(22):3197. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223197
Chicago/Turabian StyleZalokar, Lenka, Mira Kobold, and Mojca Šraj. 2021. "Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological Drought in Slovenia Using the Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI)" Water 13, no. 22: 3197. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223197
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