Drought is the most frequent hazard causing the highest economic losses among all hydro-meteorological events in Croatia, especially in the agricultural sector. Climate assessment according to aridity index shows that susceptibility to desertification is present in the warm part of the year and mostly pronounced in the Adriatic region and eastern lowland. Evidence of higher frequencies of extreme droughts in the last decade has been noted. These were the motivations to study the drought risk assessment in Croatia and to develop a vulnerability map. This map is a complex combination of the geomorphologic and climatological inputs (maps) that are presumed to be natural factors which modify the amount of moisture in the soil. The first version of the vulnerability map developed from the slope map, solar irradiation and coefficient of the variation of precipitation is updated by inclusion of optional parameters: soil types and land cover classes. The recommended procedure in the framework of Drought Management Centre for Southeastern Europe is modified and adopted in this study. The obtained results for Croatia show the areas most sensitive to drought to be on the southern Adriatic coast and over the eastern continental lowland.

drought; aridity index; drought vulnerability map

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia