Precipitation data interpolation for meteorological drought mapping in Pakistan

Drought had been observed as a recurrent disaster which gradually becomes a usual phenomenon of a region. Severe environmental, economic and social impacts for the victims had been seen. Adverse impact of meteorological drought could be curtailed to a minimum only through proper planning and drought mitigation measures. This research study offered comparison of three interpolation methods which were used to create meteorological drought intensity surfaces. This study delineated the pattern of meteorological drought intensity in Pakistan during 1980-2010. Three maps were developed using three different interpolation methods and specific semivariograms. It was concluded that the Spline method using tension semivariogram presented meteorological drought picture for Pakistan, which appeared to be much closer to the classification of droughts given by the government of Pakistan for the drought 2000-01.