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The start and duration of a drought are often not easy to define. The advance and onset are usually slow and the social and economic impacts can then extend over a long period. In this study, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was used to describe and compare droughts in different periods and regions under different climatic conditions. The importance of the index lies in its simplicity and in its ability to identify the beginning and end of a drought event. Thus it may be a useful tool for drought contingency planning. This paper examines the SPI by evaluating its application using historical precipitation data from nine weather stations in China. Different time series data covering the period 1980 to 2011 and for differing timescales of 3, 9 and 24 months were used. The results underline the potential of the SPI to inform drought alerts and forecasting efforts as part of a drought contingency planning strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study area is one of the semiarid region of the China with under water stress condition that causes economic damage. The main objective of this study is to apply standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and to use linear regression to calculate drought conditions in the study area. For this purpose, data from 1980 to 2010 was analyzed at different (1, 6, 12, and 24 months) time scales. Results depicted both dry and wet periods in the study area; occurrence of dry span with different frequency and magnitude was increased over last decades (2000–2010) at most of the stations. Statistical results demonstrated that temperature was decreased in the 1st decade in most of stations but in two decades from 1990 to 2000 and 2001 to 2010, temperature was increased except in Changzhi station. These results could be a future reference for developing information programs about monitoring and early drought information, planning of existing reservoirs, and management of water resources under climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]