Analysis of Global Data Archive on Droughts and Floods: Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Damage Distribution

• Published in: Water resources Vol. 50; no. 6; pp. 1018 - 1031
• Main Authors: Istomina, M. N., Lebedeva, I. P., Dobrovolski, S. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-12-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Archives & records; Damage patterns; Drought; Drought and floods; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Flood damage; Floods; Hydrogeology; Hydrologic data; Hydrology/Water Resources; Similarity; Statistical analysis; Temporal distribution; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water Resources Development: Economic and Legal Aspects; floods; droughts; socio-economic damages; unified global archive
• ISSN: 0097-8078; 1608-344X
• DOI: 10.1134/S0097807823700197

A unified global archive of data on floods and droughts for the period 1997–2016 was constructed and analyzed. The analysis demonstrates that there are certain similarities in the spatial and temporal distribution of both material and humanitarian damages caused by these catastrophic hydrological phenomena. Most damages from floods and droughts are observed in approximately the same latitudinal zones on the Earth. Additionally, the onset of most of these phenomena occurs during the same seasons of the year. The long-term trends also exhibit similarities, with a statistically significant increase in material damage and a decrease in the number of affected people.