Drought events monitoring in Iran over the past half century

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Fatemeh Dargahian: Associated Professor Research institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

2 Ph.D of Climate change - Zanjan University

3 Desertification Research,, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center

‎10.22052/deej.2025.255379.1073

Abstract

Iran, due to its geographical location, has low rainfall and is considered a dry land. As a result, different regions of the country grapple with drought. The presence of water management systems, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in most parts of the country, along with a variety of methods for conserving water for irrigation, may contribute to this claim. Considering that drought is an inherent phenomenon in Iran's climate, people have invented and used numerous methods to combat it and store water. The aim of this study is to monitor and evaluate drought in Iran. In order to realize this goal, precipitation data from synoptic, rain gauge, and climatology stations were extracted over a 51-year period, from 1970 to 2020. The results obtained from examining drought occurrences in five ten-year periods reveal that, with the exception of the third decade (1991 to 2000), drought has prevailed in the majority of Iran's regions compared to other decades. On the other hand, in the recent decades leading to 2020, the intensity of drought occurrences, especially in the Middle Zagros, has intensified, which has consistently been among the regions with the highest rainfall in Iran after the Caspian region. This situation can cause concern in Iran, a country where its agricultural production hub is established along the Zagros mountain range. Moreover, the fluctuating behavior of Iran's droughts, with return periods of 2 to 5 years, has complicated the management strategies for these types of hazards. These conditions appear to have created numerous issues in many areas of Iran, particularly in the agricultural sector of the western provinces, due to the lack of conformity with these types of occurrences.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Desert Ecosystem Engineering
Volume 13, Issue 44
February 2025
Pages 35-48

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