Drought: Observed trends, future projections

Sécheresses : tendances observées, projections futures

P. Quintana Seguí (1) , E. Martin (2) , E. Sanchez (3) , Mehrez Zribi (4) , M. Vennetier (2) , S.M. Vicente-Serrano (5) , Jean-Philippe Vidal (6)

1 Confederación hidrográfica del Ebro - CHE (SPAIN)
2 RECOVER - Risques, Ecosystèmes, Vulnérabilité, Environnement, Résilience
3 UCLM - Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha = University of Castilla-La Mancha
4 CESBIO - Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère
5 CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain]
6 UR HHLY - Hydrologie-Hydraulique

Drought quantification is difficult since a drought is usually identified by its effects or by its impacts on different types of systems, but no single physical variable can be measured to quantify drought. Droughts are also difficult to pinpoint in time and space since their onset, ending, duration, magnitude, and spatial extent are not easy to define. Thus, drought is often quantified indirectly using indices, which are often based on meteorological, hydrological and/or remote sensing data, and physical models help us understand the relevant processes and make predictions. In this sub-chapter, we describe and discuss drought in the Mediterranean together with some relevant processes, and comment on possible future scenarios.

Mots clés: drought; climatic change

Mots clés: SECHERESSE; CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

P. Quintana Seguí, E. Martin, E. Sanchez, Mehrez Zribi, M. Vennetier, et al.. Drought: Observed trends, future projections. Thiebault, S.; Moatti, J.P. The Mediterranean under climate change, IRD Editions, pp.123-131, 2016. ⟨hal-01401386⟩