Dabanli et al. (2026) An overview of drought indices

Identification

• Journal: Elsevier eBooks
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Ismail Dabanli, Furkan Sencer Kaçar, Abdullah Emin Demircioğlu, Cemre Erbil, Mehmet Şerif Kayaalp
• DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-443-34205-9.00003-2

Research Groups

• Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Türkiye
• Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Turkish-German University, Istanbul, Türkiye
• Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Marmara University, Istanbul, Türkiye

Short Summary

This chapter provides an overview of drought indices, emphasizing their critical role in characterizing drought types and severity for effective management and mitigation, and discusses their evolution with advancements in measurement technologies.

Objective

• To provide a comprehensive overview of drought indices, explaining their purpose, derivation from various indicators, and importance in characterizing drought types and severity for effective management and mitigation.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Conceptual/Review, discussing indices applicable across various climatic conditions globally.
• Temporal Scale: Conceptual/Review, discussing the historical development and ongoing evolution of drought indices.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not applicable; this is an overview chapter discussing the principles and types of drought indices, not a study employing specific models.
• Data sources: Discusses various indicators (e.g., precipitation, surface flow, temperature, remote sensing-derived vegetation indices) that serve as inputs for drought indices, rather than data sources used by the authors for a specific analysis.

Main Results

• Drought is an insidious natural disaster caused by water deficiency, necessitating proper characterization for management and mitigation.
• Drought indices are quantitative measures derived from single or multiple indicators (e.g., precipitation, surface flow, temperature, remote sensing data) to determine drought types and severity levels.
• Advancements in measurement and observation technologies, particularly remote sensing, have accelerated the development of new and hybrid drought assessment methodologies.

Contributions

• Provides a foundational and comprehensive introductory overview of drought indices, their underlying principles, and their evolution, serving as a key resource for understanding drought characterization and management.
• Synthesizes the importance of drought indices in facilitating preemptive precautions and operations during drought events.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Dabanli2026overview,
  author = {Dabanli, Ismail and Kaçar, Furkan Sencer and Demircioğlu, Abdullah Emin and Erbil, Cemre and Kayaalp, Mehmet Şerif},
  title = {An overview of drought indices},
  journal = {Elsevier eBooks},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/b978-0-443-34205-9.00003-2},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-34205-9.00003-2}
}