Drought Risk Assessment by Means of Drought Hazard and Vulnerability Indices in Muntenia Region

• Main Author: ANDREEA-IULIANA BUNEA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Casa Cartii de Stiinta Cluj-Napoca 2019-12-01
• Series: Riscuri şi Catastrofe
• Subjects: drought; hazard; rainfall; vulnerability; socio-economic indicators; risk; muntenia
• Online Access: http://riscurisicatastrofe.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/Volume/XVIII_Nr_25_2_2019/PDF/04_Bunea_73_84.pdf

This paper aims at portraying the climatic risk linked with the emergence of droughts in the historical province of Muntenia, Romania. The negative implications of droughts in the territory are a product of the interrelationship between the hazard characteristics and the conditions that convert the society vulnerable. In the following pages, we will attempt to determine the materialization in the territory of the concept of hazard, having as a starting point the precipitation data from 30 meteorological stations situated across Muntenia. On the other hand, the vulnerability was assessed with the help of three indicators that depict the degree to which the population and the territory are susceptible to dry phases in accordance with their characteristics, such as population density, on one hand, the land usage and the distance between a certain point and the nearest river, on the other. Finally, by multiplying the values resulted from the calculation of the hazard and vulnerability indices, the purpose is to create a map of the risk connected to droughts in Muntenia. In this way, the areas more prone and exposed to the adverse outcomes of droughts were highlighted, this representing the first step of future policies aiming at mitigating the negative effects the droughts have on the society and the environment.