Monitoring and Evaluation of Meteorological Drought in Malatya Station: Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI)

Drought is one of the biggest natural disasters in our country and in the world. It brings many financial and moral problems in all geographies where it is seen socially and economically. In this study, the impact of drought, which causes so many negativities, on Malatya province is discussed. With the help of the widely used Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI), detailed drought analyses were made for 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, time intervals using data form 1957-2018. According to the results of the analysis, approximately one out of every two months in the study region was dry. Although the two methods give similar results, slight differences are observed. The reason for this is; unlike SPI, RDI includes temperature data along with precipitation. The driest periods for both methods were observed between 2012 and 2014. According to the SPI method; the driest month was July 2014 with an index value of -3.62, while according to the RDI; July 2014 was again observed with an index value of -3.52. Trend analysis of precipitation and temperature data was made and it was determined that precipitation tends to decrease and temperature tends to increase. It is obvious that climate change, increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation will expose the region to the threat of severe drought in the coming years. The study provides basic information to local administrators and researchers.