• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.187-196
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• 2016

Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) considering evapotranspiration and precipitation is generally used to quantify the drought severity. Also, Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) has been frequently used in the arid regions which is suffering severe droughts, but drought analysis in association with RDI has been the focus of few studies in South Korea. Therefore, this study compared two meterological drought indices based on precipitation and evapotranspiration using Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, and Blaney-Criddle evaportranspiration calculation methods. Meteorological data of sixteen weather stations which are operated by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) were used to quantify drought and to compare characteristics of drought for the Han River Basin from 1992 to 2015. As a result, in case of Han River Basin, severe drought sharply increased in recent years. While the correlation coefficients are relatively high between the SPEIs and RDIs, the drought severity and year of severe drought are partially different. Therefore, it is necessary that RDI will be also measured to quantify severity and occurrence year of drought.