Assessment of Spatiotemporal Variability of Meteorological Droughts in Northern Iraq Using Satellite Rainfall Data

The absence of a dense rainfall monitoring network and longer period data are the major hindrances of hydroclimatic study in arid and semi-arid regions. An attempt has been made for the evaluation of spatiotemporal changes in droughts at the northern semi-arid region of Iraq for the period 1981–2018 using high-resolution (0.05°) precipitation data of Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS). The performance of CHIRPS in replicating rainfall and Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) for different timescales at eleven locations for the available period of observation data (2000–2014) was evaluated. The SPI was also used to estimate drought frequency and evaluate drought trends at all the CHIRPS grid points. A modified version of the non-parametric Mann-Kendall (MK) test was employed for a robust evaluation of the spatial distribution of temporal trends in droughts. The results showed a good ability of CHIRPS in reconstructing observed SPI with a correlation coefficient ranged from 0.64 to 0.87, BIAS between 1.05 and 1.81, Nash-Sutcliff efficiency from 0.39 to 0.55, and Willmott Index between 0.67 and 0.79. The CHIRPS also able to reconstruct the time series and probability distribution of observed SPI reasonably. Spatial distribution of droughts revealed a higher frequency of droughts of all categories and timescales in the east and north of Northern Iraq, mainly due to high rainfall variance. The MK test revealed a reduction in 6- and 12-month droughts in the northwest and an intensification at a few northeastern grids. It indicates droughts became more recurrent in the already drought-prone region and lessened in a less drought-prone region.