Articles | Volume 28, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1415-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1415-2024
Research article
 | 
28 Mar 2024
Research article |  | 28 Mar 2024

On the timescale of drought indices for monitoring streamflow drought considering catchment hydrological regimes

Oscar M. Baez-Villanueva, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, Diego G. Miralles, Hylke E. Beck, Jonatan F. Siegmund, Camila Alvarez-Garreton, Koen Verbist, René Garreaud, Juan Pablo Boisier, and Mauricio Galleguillos

Data sets

ERA5-Land hourly data from 1950 to present J. Muñoz Sabater https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.e2161bac

cr2met CR2 https://www.cr2.cl/downloads/cr2met/

Model code and software

obaezvil/SpatIndex: SpatIndex O. M. Baez Villanueva https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10844412

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Short summary
Various drought indices exist, but there is no consensus on which index to use to assess streamflow droughts. This study addresses meteorological, soil moisture, and snow indices along with their temporal scales to assess streamflow drought across hydrologically diverse catchments. Using data from 100 Chilean catchments, findings suggest that there is not a single drought index that can be used for all catchments and that snow-influenced areas require drought indices with larger temporal scales.