Abstract

Drought is a devastating natural occurrence. It differs from other natural hazards in that it takes a long time to build up and has an infinite start and end. It is vital to assess the severity of a drought. Drought has various faces in any given place, and it always begins with a lack of precipitation, which can influence soil moisture, streams, groundwater, ecosystems, and humans (or not, depending on how long and severe the drought is). As a result, four types of droughts (meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, and socioeconomic) are identified, reflecting the perspectives of various sectors on water scarcity. Drought indices are used to categorise drought situations, with the Standardized Precipitation Indicator (SPI) being the most extensively used and approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the standard drought index. The SPI with several years is computed for two-time steps 6,12 and compared with each other. Annual data with seasons is presented using tables, graphs. The R software was used to calculate all statistical processes. SPI12 and SPI6 has recognized 1973, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2016 as drought years. At last, temporal variation is seen in different districts of Marathwada region. Firstly, 60 years were divided into two groups each 30 years. Then drought years has been identified which were 1973, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2016. In these drought years, severity has been discussed according to SPI12 and SPI6.