Historical drought and its trend in South Asia: Spatial and temporal analysis 2000-2020

Every year, South Asian countries suffer from declining agricultural outputs due to climate extremes such as floods and droughts. Recurrent droughts have depressed rural economies and enhanced widespread hunger and human migration to South Asian cities (Miyan, 2015). Due to climatic changes, the region is projected to experience rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events in the long term (Trenberth et al., 2014). Accurate predictions of drought, its impact, and early detection facilities are not present in most South Asian countries due to a lack of sufficient hydro-meteorological datasets, poor access to satellite products, and shortages of well-trained staff. This study seeks to address these deficiencies scientifically by analysing historical drought conditions on a regional scale using open-access satellite…