Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The Palmer Drought Severity Index: limitations and assumptions.

January 1, 1984

The structure of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), which is perhaps the most widely used regional index of drought, is examined. The PDSI addresses two of the most elusive properties of droughts: their intensity and their beginning and ending times. Under certain conditions, the PDSI values are very sensitive to the criteria for ending an 'established' drought and precipitation during a month can have a very large effect on the PDSI values for several previous months. -from Author

Publication Year 1984
Title The Palmer Drought Severity Index: limitations and assumptions.
DOI 10.1175/1520-0450(1984)023<1100:TPDSIL>2.0.CO;2
Authors W.M. Alley
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology
Index ID 70013882
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse