DROUGHT DEFINITIONS
Meteorological
drought is defined as an interval
of time, generally of the order of
months or years, during which the actual moisture supply at a given place
cumulatively
falls short of climatically appropriate moisture supply.
Agricultural
drought
is typically defined as a period when soil moisture is
inadequate
to meet evapotranspirative demands so as to initiate and sustain crop growth.
Another
facet of agricultural drought is a deficiency of water for livestock or other
farming
activities.
Hydrologic
drought
typically refers to periods of below-normal streamflow
and/or
depleted reservoir storage.
Water-supply
drought
typically refers to periods when water demand exceeds
water
availability.
| Maidment, David R., ed., 1992 Handbook of Hydrology: New York, McGraw-Hill, Inc. |
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URL://va.water.usgs.gov/drought/drought_define.htm Last modified: 11/13/02 08:23:16 AM