Author(s): Pedro Anastasio Cumena Lombe; Elsa Maria Da Silva Carvalho; Paulo Jorge Rosa Santos

Linked Author(s): Paulo Rosa-Santos, Elsa Maria Da Silva Carvalho

Keywords: Drought; Southern Angola; Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index; Social problems

Abstract: Droughts are a periodic occurrence in Angola, and they have become more intense and frequent over time. The 2019 drought in southern Angola was one of the most severe in recent decades, resulting in a variety of negative consequences such as disease spread, human migration, and animal deaths. The purpose of this study was to analyze if the 2019 drought was the worst in southern Angola in the last 40 years, based on meteorological data and by computing the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for the provinces of Cunene, Huila, and Namibe. The results obtained using SPEI indices for 1,3, 6,9, and 12 months confirmed that the 2019 drought was the worst in several decades in Southern Angola except for Namibe Province. The most severe droughts identified in Cunene province occurred in 2019 (SPEI ≤ - 2.00, in Huila province in 2019 with (SPEI ≤ -2.00), and in Namibe province in 1985 (SPI ≤ -2.00).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-90-833476-1-5_iahr40wc-p1368-cd

Year: 2023