ASSESSMENT OF METEOROLOGICAL DROUGHT SEVERITY IN THE FORMER HA GIANG PROVINCE, NORTHERN VIETNAM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1059.2025-0047Keywords:
meteorological drought, Ha Giang, aridity index (K), monthly drought frequency (P)Abstract
The former Ha Giang Province in Northeastern Vietnam, characterized by complex mountainous terrain and climatic variability, is prone to drought. This study assesses meteorological drought severity using the aridity index (K) and monthly drought frequency (P), derived from meteorological data (1960–2024) collected at 18 meteorological, hydrological, and rainfall stations across the study area. Results show that monthly K values ranged from 0.1 to 3.1, peaking in February, while annual averages ranged from 0.1 to 0.5. Based on P, drought severity was classified into three levels: mild, moderate, and severe, with the highest frequencies in December and April. These findings provide a scientific basis to support disaster prevention and drought mitigation efforts in the region.
References
[1] FAO, (2018). The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/I8656EN/i8656en.pdf.
[2] CRED & UNISDR, (2018). Economic losses, poverty & disasters: 1998–2017. Retrieved from https://www.unisdr.org/files/61119_credeconomiclosses.pdf.
[3] Dilley M, Chen RS, Deichmann U, Lerner-Lam AL & Arnold M, (2005). Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis. World Bank Publications, Washington.
[4] UNDRR, (2019). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from https://gar.unisdr.org.
[5] World Meteorological Organization, (1975). Drought and agriculture. Technical Note 138. WMO, Geneva.
[6] Wilhite DA, (2000). Drought: a global assessment. In: Drought as a Natural Hazard: Concepts and Definitions. London: Routledge Publishers.
[7] Wang P, Qiao W, Wang Y, Cao S & Zhang Y, (2020). Urban drought vulnerability assessment – A framework to integrate socio-economic, physical, and policy indices in a vulnerability contribution analysis. Sustainable Cities and Society, 54, 102004.
[8] Sébastien D & Aude-Sophie R, (2019). Drought in the city: the economic impact of water scarcity in Latin American metropolitan areas. World Development, 114, 13–27.
[9] Jiang J & Zhou T, (2023). Agricultural drought over water-scarce Central Asia is aggravated by internal climate variability. Nature Geoscience, 16, 154–161.
[10] Odongo RA, Schrieks T, Streefkerk I, Moel HD, Busker T, Haer T, MacLeod D, Michaelides K, Singer M, Assen M, Otieno G & Van LAF, (2025). Drought impacts and community adaptation: perspectives on the 2020–2023 drought in East Africa. The International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 119, 105309.
[11] Lloyd-Hughes B & Saunders MA, (2002). A drought climatology for Europe. International Journal of Climatology, 22, 1571–1592.
[12] Aktürk G, Çıtakoğlu H, Demir V & Beden N, (2024). Meteorological drought analysis and regional frequency analysis in the Kızılırmak Basin: creating a framework for sustainable water resources management. Water, 16(15), 2124.
[13] Gebrechorkos SH, Peng J, Dyer E, Miralles DG, Vicente-Serrano SM, Funk C, Beck HE, Asfaw DT, Singer MB & Dadson SJ, (2023). Global high-resolution drought indices for 1981–2022. Earth System Science Data, 15(12), 5449–5466.
[14] Gebrechorkos SH, Sheffield J, Vicente-Serrano SM & Funk C, (2025). Warming accelerates global drought severity. Nature, 642, 628–635.
[15] Vu TH & Tran TTH, (2013). Comparison of some drought indices in the climate zones of Vietnam. Journal of Science of VNU, Natural Sciences and Technology, 29(2S), 51–57 (in Vietnamese).
[16] Vu TH, Ngo TTH, Nguyen QT & Trinh TL, (2011). Projecting drought changes in the Central region during 2011–2050 using the regional climate model RegCM3. VNU Journal of Science, Natural Sciences and Technology, 27(3S), 21–31 (in Vietnamese).
[17] Nguyen VT, Mai VK, Nguyen DM & Truong DT, (2014). Research on determining drought indicators for the South Central region. Journal of Meteorology and Hydrology, (3) (in Vietnamese).
[18] Tran VT, Huynh VTM & Dang TTH, (2015). Building a drought map of the Mekong Delta in the context of climate change. Journal of Science of Can Tho University, (Special Issue – Environment and Climate Change), 226–233 (in Vietnamese).
[19] Nguyen TNL, Duong QN, Le HNT, Nguyen BN, Tran TP, Nguyen HKL, Tran TT & Nguyen HN, (2019). Drought risk assessment using SPI and TRMM indices in Quang Nam province. Proceedings of the 2019 National GIS Application Conference (in Vietnamese).
[20] Le S & Nguyen DV, (2008). Research on selecting the formula for calculating the drought index and applying it to calculate annual drought frequency in Ninh Thuan. Collection of Science and Technology Results. Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (in Vietnamese).
[21] Ngo TS, Hoang LH, Luyen HC & Nguyen HT, (2018). Assessment of drought situation in Binh Thuan province in the period 1984–2016. Vietnam Agricultural Science Journal, 16(4), 339–350 (in Vietnamese).
[22] Dao NH, Hoang LTT, Nguyen DT & Doan TT, (2022). Study on drought evolution for Hai Duong province in dry months in the context of climate change. HNUE Journal of Science: Natural Sciences, 67(1), 135–145 (in Vietnamese).
[23] VietnamNet, (2022). Ha Giang Shan Tuyet Tea – Native plant becomes valuable commodity. https://vietnamnet.vn/en/shan-tuyet-tea-valuable-timber-plants-named-vietnam-heritage-trees-2065415.html (in Vietnamese).
[24] Center for Hydrometeorological Information and Data Storage. Institute of Hydrometeorology and Climate Change (in Vietnamese).
[25] Nguyen DN & Nguyen TH, (2013). Climate and Climate Resources of Vietnam. Science and Technology Publishing House, Hanoi (in Vietnamese).
[26] https://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ONI_v5.
