Investigation of meteorological drought characteristics of the great man-made river region: a case study of drought in Libya

Drought is a hidden natural hazard that involves complex climatic systems and has significant environmental social consequences. Due to the current state of catastrophic occurrences, there been an increased interest in monitoring droughts recent years. This study conducted meteorological drought analysis for five stations Great Man-Made River region located Libya. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) Reconnaissance (RDI) methods were used determine utilizing monthly total precipitation data, mean temperatures respectively. using DrinC software 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-month SPI values researched. According SPI-12-month index values, driest period was determined by 86% Tripoli Airport Nalut station, least dry Sirt station 39%. It found year 2000–2001 one years all studied stations, other with high rates 1981–1982, 1984–1985, 1992–1993.