Droughts are chronic climatic events, which often affect South Asia. Pakistan is predominantly arid with low rainfall and higher solar radiation over most parts of the country. Pakistan is basically an Agricultural country and its economy is mainly agrarian. Water is one of the most limiting constraints for agricultural production in Pakistan.
Analysis of the drought condition made in this study for the areas of Sindh particularly along Indus River, is based on calculation of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and DEVNDVI using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data on board National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) series of satellites. Data analysis for February and October (1996-2006) and deviation of rainfall from its mean based on precipitation data for the period: 1986-2006 has been carried out. NDVI describes vegetation health based on chlorophyll concentration and its deviation DEVNDVI indicates the severity of drought. The values of vegetation index for February and October (1996- 2006) show that the drought was severe during the year 2000 and 2003 as it affected most areas of Sindh.
Results show strong relationships among NDVI, DEVNDVI, precipitation and drought conditions.
Satellite technology combined with meteorological data (like precipitation) can be effectively used for agricultural drought monitoring. |
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