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Cited by 849

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Candidate Distributions for Climatological Drought Indices (SPI and SPEI)

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Stagge, James H., Tallaksen, Lena M., Gudmundsson, Lukas, Van Loon, Anne F., Stahl, Kerstin·2015·International Journal of Climatology

Abstract

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), a well‐reviewed meteorological drought index recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and its more recent climatic water balance variant, the Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), both rely on selection of a univariate probability distribution to normalize the index, allowing for comparisons across climates. Choice of an improper probability distribution may impart bias to the index values, exaggerating or minimizing drought severity. This study compares a suite of candidate probability distributions for use in SPI and SPEI normalization using the 0.5° × 0.5° gridded Watch Forcing Dataset (WFD) at the continental scale, focusing on Europe. Several modifications to the SPI and SPEI methodology are proposed, as well as an updated procedure for evaluating SPI/SPEI goodness of fit based on the Shapiro–Wilk test. Candidate distributions for SPI organize into two groups based on their ability to model short‐term accumulation (1–2 months) or long‐term accumulation (>3 months). The two‐parameter gamma distribution is recommended for general use when calculating SPI across all accumulation periods and regions within Europe, in agreement with previous studies. The generalized extreme value distribution is recommended when computing the SPEI, in disagreement with previous recommendations.

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Metadata

Authors
Stagge, J. H., Tallaksen, L. M., Gudmundsson, L., Van Loon, A. F., & Stahl, K.
Venue
International Journal of Climatology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-02-19
Volume
35
Issue
13
Pages
4027-4040
ISSN
  • 0899-8418 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0088
OpenAlex
W1519662490
Cited by
849
References
34
FWCI
30.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
hybrid

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Candidate Distributions for Climatological Drought Indices (SPI and SPEI). https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1002/joc.4267
The paper
Stagge, J. H., Tallaksen, L. M., Gudmundsson, L., Van Loon, A. F., & Stahl, K. (2015). Candidate Distributions for Climatological Drought Indices (SPI and SPEI). International Journal of Climatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4267

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