Articles | Volume 29, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025
Technical note
 | 
22 Apr 2025
Technical note |  | 22 Apr 2025

Technical note: What does the Standardized Streamflow Index actually reflect? Insights and implications for hydrological drought analysis

Fabián Lema, Pablo A. Mendoza, Nicolás A. Vásquez, Naoki Mizukami, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, and Ximena Vargas

Related authors

Calibrating a large-domain land/hydrology process model in the age of AI: the SUMMA CAMELS emulator experiments
Mozhgan A. Farahani, Andrew W. Wood, Guoqiang Tang, and Naoki Mizukami
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 4515–4537, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4515-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4515-2025, 2025
Short summary
MATCHA, a novel regional hydroclimate-chemical reanalysis: System description and evaluation
Chayan Roychoudhury, Rajesh Kumar, Cenlin He, William Y. Y. Cheng, Kirpa Ram, Naoki Mizukami, and Avelino F. Arellano
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-275,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-275, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Benchmarking convection-permitting climate simulations for hydrological applications: A comparative study of WRF-SAAG and observation-based products
Sofía Segovia, Pablo A. Mendoza, Miguel Lagos-Zúñiga, Lucía Scaff, and Andreas Prein
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3061,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3061, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
From grid to ground: How well do gridded products represent soil moisture dynamics in natural ecosystems during precipitation events?
Daniel Nuñez-Ibarra, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, and Mauricio Galleguillos
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2606,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2606, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
How well do hydrological models simulate streamflow extremes and drought-to-flood transitions?
Eduardo Muñoz-Castro, Bailey J. Anderson, Paul C. Astagneau, Daniel L. Swain, Pablo A. Mendoza, and Manuela I. Brunner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-781,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-781, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Adeyeri, O. E., Zhou, W., Laux, P., Ndehedehe, C. E., Wang, X., Usman, M., and Akinsanola, A. A.: Multivariate Drought Monitoring, Propagation, and Projection Using Bias-Corrected General Circulation Models, Earth's Future, 11, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003303, 2023. 
Almagro, A., Meira Neto, A. A., Vergopolan, N., Roy, T., Troch, P. A., and Oliveira, P. T. S.: The Drivers of Hydrologic Behavior in Brazil: Insights From a Catchment Classification, Water Resour. Res., 60, e2024WR037212, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037212, 2024. 
Alvarez-Garreton, C., Mendoza, P. A., Boisier, J. P., Addor, N., Galleguillos, M., Zambrano-Bigiarini, M., Lara, A., Puelma, C., Cortes, G., Garreaud, R., McPhee, J., and Ayala, A.: The CAMELS-CL dataset: catchment attributes and meteorology for large sample studies – Chile dataset, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 5817–5846, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5817-2018, 2018. 
Andreadis, K. M., Clark, E. A., Wood, A. W., Hamlet, A. F., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Twentieth-century drought in the conterminous United States, J. Hydrometeorol., 6, 985–1001, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM450.1, 2005. 
Apurv, T., Sivapalan, M., and Cai, X.: Understanding the Role of Climate Characteristics in Drought Propagation, Water Resour. Res., 53, 9304–9329, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR021445, 2017. 
Download
Short summary
Hydrological droughts affect ecosystems and socioeconomic activities worldwide. Despite the fact that they are commonly described with the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), there is limited understanding of what they truly reflect in terms of water cycle processes. Here, we used state-of-the-art hydrological models in Andean basins to examine drivers of SSI fluctuations. The results highlight the importance of careful selection of indices and timescales for accurate drought characterization and monitoring.
Share