Sign in Subscribe
Natural resources

Drought Patterns in Ethiopia Revealed through Advanced Satellite Data Analysis

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Researchers from Prairie View A&M University have conducted an in-depth analysis of drought patterns in Ethiopia, utilizing satellite data to monitor and understand the country's drought trends over the past 58 years. The study focused on the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS-v2) satellite rainfall product, which was used to calculate a 3 and 12-month timescale Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to evaluate inter-arrival time, peak intensity, frequency, severity, and trends from 1981 to 2021. The study found an increasing trend in drought across all seasons, but the upward trends were not statistically significant.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ethiopia has experienced 110 documented natural disasters over the past 58 years, including floods, disease outbreaks, droughts, landslides, pest infestations, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, mass movements, and wildfires.
  • The study utilized the CHIRPS-v2 satellite rainfall product to analyze drought patterns in Ethiopia, using a 3 and 12-month timescale SPI to evaluate inter-arrival time, peak intensity, frequency, severity, and trends from 1981 to 2021.
  • An increasing trend in drought was observed across all seasons, but the upward trends were not statistically significant.
  • Certain years, such as 1984, 2010, and 2016, were identified as among the driest periods in Ethiopia, both in terms of annual and seasonal drought severity.
  • Conversely, 1998, 2007, and 2020 were identified as the wettest years and seasons in the country.
  • The SPI-12 monthly index drought characterization shows an average of 4 drought events per year, with a maximum drought duration of 45 months, a maximum magnitude of 80, a frequency of 18%, and a severity of 2.6.

Statistics:

  • 58 years of drought data were analyzed in the study.
  • 110 documented natural disasters occurred in Ethiopia over the past 58 years.
  • CHIRPS-v2 satellite rainfall product was used to calculate the SPI from 1981 to 2021.
  • An increasing trend in drought was observed across all seasons.
  • The upward trends were not statistically significant, with computed p-values exceeding the significance level of a = 0.05.
  • A free version of the journal article is available online at https://doi-org.sdpl.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.nhres.2024.12.002.

Sources:

  • "Drought monitoring using the Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) in Ethiopia." Natural Hazards Research, 2025, 5(2): 348-362.
  • VerticalNews, June 27, 2025.

Read more