Space and Time Characteristics of Flash Drought Over the Central Europe

Flash drought is a unique natural hazard due to its rapid rate of intensification with potentially detrimental effects on agriculture production. So far few work has been done to investigate the space and time behavior of flash droughts across Central Europe. In this study, we examine the space and time characteristics (Frequency, Rate of intensification, Severity, and Extent) of flash drought events in Central Europe between 1970 and 2020. The weekly averaged top layer (1-10cm) soil moisture (SM) data set of the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) has been used as an indicator for identifying flash drought events. Here, we adopted a new definition for flash droughts by considering the intensity, duration, and persistence of flash drought. The results of this study reveal that the occurrence of flash droughts over Central Europe increased rapidly in the last two decades. The intensification rate and severity of flash drought show positive correlation. Moreover, the areal extent of flash drought events increased since 1970 and their centroid shifted towards the southern part of Central Europe. This study provides a better understanding of flash drought process and its dynamics over Central Europe.