Assessment of Meteorological Drought Indices in Korea Using RCP 8.5 Scenario

• Main Author: Dongwoo Jang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-03-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: drought index; RDI; SPI; RCP 8.5 scenario; climate change
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/3/283

Diverse drought indices have been developed and used across the globe to assess and monitor droughts. Among them, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) are drought indices that have been recently developed and are being used in the world’s leading countries. This study took place in Korea’s major observatories for drought prediction until 2100, using the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario. On the basis of the drought index measured by SPI, future climates were forecast to be humid, as the index would rise over time. In contrast, the RDI, which takes evapotranspiration into account, anticipated dry climates, with the drought index gradually falling over time. From the analysis of the drought index through the RCP 8.5 scenario, extreme drought intensity will be more likely to occur due to rising temperatures. To obtain the diversity of drought prediction, the evapotranspiration was deemed necessary for calculating meteorological droughts.