The diploma work includes a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of extreme drought in the territory of Slovenia and in the border area with Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia between 1940 and 1950. During that period, a long-term lack of rainfall was detected at measuring points in Slovenia and the neighboring neighborhood leading to extreme drought.
The extreme dry period can be subsequently calculated by means of i.e. standardized precipitation index (SPI), which tells us the drought intensity in a given period based on monthly rainfall measurements. SPI can be calculated for different long periods (by 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 months). In the specific case, SPI3 is used to display short-term drought periods over three months, SPI48 will be used for a period of 48 months, thus revealing long-lasting droughts, that are not so pronounced at the three-month observation level.
Extreme drought can be defined when the calculated SPI value is 䁤 - 2.00. Due to a better overview of the extreme drought period, we will use the data from the selected measuring points from 1940 to 1950 for the calculation. The data from the measuring points will determine the average annual values of precipitation.
Data on the amount of monthly precipitation required for the calculation of the SPI can be found on the HISTALP website, where monthly values from different measuring stations are recorded for more than 100 years. Later, with the free-access QGIS program, the interpolation command will show where in the study area the drought was most intense and occupied the largest area.
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