Impact of ENSO on Drought in Borena Zone, Ethiopia

Drought is one of the most frequent natural disasters in the world, droughts has a significantly negative impact on social, economic, and environmental situations. The goal is to assess and define the spatiotemporal analysis of meteorological droughts across ENSO (neutral, El Niño and La Niña) events and provided the guidance of the study area. CHIRPS data gathered from CHG-UCSB for spatial analysis and USGS FEWS NET for temporal analysis, respectively, for the time periods 1981 2020 and 1991–2020. For spatial and temporal analysis SPI was selected due to better for rainfall input over the study area, we employed Python tools and GeoCLIM data analysis methodologies. The findings of this study demonstrate that the Borana zone experienced an increase in droughts during the El Niño, La Niña, and neutral events between 1981 and 2020. The frequency and duration of the dryness were displayed in time steps across short-term drought indices. The extent, duration, and frequency of meteorological (deficit of precipitation) droughts varied, as shown by the time-scale temporal meteorological drought indices in the range of three to twelve months. For the remaining woredas of investigation between the SPI3 and SPI6, SPI6 and SPI12, and SPI9 and SPI12 indices, significantly an increase in the correlation values over short to long durations over the study area was the dominant factor in the meteorological drought severity of the correlation. It is also necessary to conduct additional research on how droughts spread, including the use of various drought indices to gauge the frequency, length, and intensity of droughts over time at the woreda, regional, and national levels. This study will help for different sectors, for knowledge’s and references to better manage irrigation, crop variety selection (drought tolerant seeds), soil conservation, crop production, and better awareness on meteorological droughts over study area.