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The Estimation of Drought Risk in Europe from Soil and Climatic Data

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Drought and Drought Mitigation in Europe

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 14))

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology for using soil and climatic data to assess the risk of drought impacts in Europe. In the case of agricultural drought, it is the soil water available to plants (SWAP) that is the most important factor in assessing this risk and a simple model for estimating this is described. This model can be linked to spatial and point data from the European Soil Database and a preliminary map of SWAP in Europe has been produced using a pedotransfer rule. The study concludes that more precise modelling of droughtiness, based on interactions of soil available water with the average soil moisture deficit, estimated from meteorological data, is needed, to support policy making today but that currently the necessary soil physical data are lacking to fully implement this approach.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Soil Bureau, Space Applications Institute, EC Joint Research Centre, 21020, Ispra (Va), Italy

    R. J. A. Jones, P. Zdruli & L. Montanarella

Authors
  1. R. J. A. Jones
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  2. P. Zdruli
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  3. L. Montanarella
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Space Applications Institute, JRC, Ispra, Italy

    Jürgen V. Vogt

  2. Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Catania, Italy

    Francesca Somma

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Jones, R.J.A., Zdruli, P., Montanarella, L. (2000). The Estimation of Drought Risk in Europe from Soil and Climatic Data. In: Vogt, J.V., Somma, F. (eds) Drought and Drought Mitigation in Europe. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9472-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9472-1_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5568-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9472-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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