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Characterization of Drought in the South Atlantic, United States
Author(s) -
Patterson Lauren A.,
Lutz Brian D.,
Doyle Martin W.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/jawr.12090
Subject(s) - streamflow , context (archaeology) , arid , environmental science , percentile , drought stress , climate change , water resources , climatology , hydrology (agriculture) , drainage basin , physical geography , geography , agronomy , geology , biology , ecology , mathematics , statistics , cartography , archaeology , geotechnical engineering
Abstract Drought has been less extensively characterized in the humid S outh A tlantic compared to the arid w estern U nited S tates. Our objective was to characterize drought in the S outh A tlantic and to understand whether drought has become more severe in this region over time. Here we used monthly streamflow to characterize hydrological drought. Hydrological drought occurred when streamflow fell below the 20th percentile over three consecutive months and terminated once streamflow remained above the 20th percentile for three consecutive months. We characterized the frequency, duration, magnitude, and severity of events using the above definition. Significant changes in drought characteristics were tested with M ann‐ K endall over three periods: 1930‐2010, 1930‐1969, and 1970‐2010. We show that 71% of drought events were shorter than six months, while 7% were multiyear events. There was little evidence of trends in drought characteristics to support the claim of drought becoming more severe in the S outh A tlantic over the 20th Century. The one exception was a significant increase in the joint probability of nearby basins being simultaneously in drought conditions in the southern portion of the study area from 1970 to 2010. While drought characteristics have changed little through time, decreasing average streamflow in non drought periods coupled with increasing water demand provide the context within which recent multiyear drought events have produced significant stress on existing water infrastructure.