Process / pipelineDrought and precipitation analysis

Standardized Precipitation Index

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is a climate index that quantifies precipitation anomalies relative to historical norms, standardized to account for differences in precipitation climatology across regions. Introduced by McKee, Doesken, and Kleist in 1993, SPI has become a primary tool for drought detection and characterization, adopted by meteorological agencies worldwide for operational drought monitoring and early warning systems.

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Sources

  1. McKee, T. B., Doesken, N. J., & Kleist, J. (1993). The relationship of drought frequency and duration to time scales. Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Applied Climatology, 179-184. link
  2. Lloyd-Hughes, B., & Saunders, M. A. (2002). A drought climatology for Europe. International Journal of Climatology, 22(13), 1571-1592. DOI: 10.1002/joc.846

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Referenced by

ScholarGateStandardized Precipitation Index (Standardized Precipitation Index). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/geophysics/standardized-precipitation-index