Performance of SPI Index to assess drought in th Coastal Constantine watershed

Abstract

Globally, drought is one of the most important natural disasters affecting ecosystems, agricultural output, and socioeconomic stability. The purpose of this study is to use the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to assess temporal dynamics of drought in the Coastal Constantine Basin in northeastern Algeria. This study evaluates drought severity and events at multiple time scales (1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months) using precipitation data from twelve meteorological stations gathered during a 54-year period (1960–2014). Significant differences in annual precipitation are seen throughout the basin, according to the results, suggesting that some regions experience recurrent and ongoing droughts. In this situation, the SPI has shown itself to be a reliable and flexible instrument for drought monitoring, enabling the detection of both extended hydrological and agricultural droughts as well as short-term meteorological droughts. The results highlight how urgent it is to improve adaptive water resource management techniques and put localized drought mitigation policies into action, particularly in light of climate change estimates for the Mediterranean region.