Analyses on Drought as a Climate Change Indicator in Turkey

Precipitation is one of the primary indicators of climate change and plays a critical role in environmental processes. Changes in the amount, distribution, and frequency of precipitation are directly influenced by climatic variations, while precipitation characteristics significantly affect ecosystems, water resources, and regional climate conditions. Therefore, monitoring precipitation and identifying long-term trends through statistical analyses are essential to better understand climate change and its impacts. To evaluate temporal variations in precipitation and meteorological drought conditions, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is widely recognized as an effective and reliable tool. SPI assesses precipitation anomalies and helps identify changes in meteorological drought severity over time. Because drought development is often gradual and hard to detect without quantitative measures, SPI-based drought classifications provide a valuable framework for monitoring drought. In this study, SPI values and corresponding drought categories were analyzed for several locations across Turkey. A drought index is used to quantify the level of drought and its temporal variation. The selected meteorological stations represent different climatic regions and precipitation regimes, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of spatial and temporal drought variability. The results indicate an overall increase in drought severity and frequency during the study period, suggesting that climate variability and change are increasingly influencing precipitation patterns in Turkey. The RWDI results indicate a slow increase in relative drought at several stations, suggesting that drought conditions in Turkey vary considerably between regions.