Abstract
Agricultural drought is an important issue for food security, water availability and rural livelihoods, particularly in the semi-arid regions of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, especially in Sivagangai District. This study combines multi-temporal remote sensing data and GIS techniques to evaluate the agricultural drought vulnerability during a 30-year time frame (1994–2024). Landsat satellite imagery and climate data were used to derive some key bio-physical indicators such as NDVI, NDWI, VCI, SMI, LST, LULC and SPI. An AHP was used to assign weights to each parameter and was created. The spatiotemporal analysis shows that there is a substantial reduction in vegetated and moist areas as well as a high growth of high and very high temperature areas and built-up land. The percentage of areas classified as ‘Very High’ drought vulnerability has increased significantly from 1.08% (1994) to 40.04% (2024), highlighting a growing threat from drought conditions. NDVI and NDWI were chosen as the most significant indices that affect drought. The findings reflect the deteriorating environmental condition and stress the need for specific mitigation measures, including afforestation, sustainable land-use planning and management of water resources. This study is both spatially explicit and scalable; it provides key information to local planners, policymakers and stakeholders to support agricultural resilience in drought-prone regions.