Definition of Drought

Neil Coles, Saeid Eslamian

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference paperChapterpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The word drought in its definitive sense is derived from the archaic English and Scottish form of the word “drouth” that is an archaic or dialectal word for thirst. In more recent times, it has been used as a collective term to refer to an acute water shortage rather than thirst specifically.
However, the term “drought” can be applied to the lack or scarcity of anything or a prolonged absence of something specified, but historically it has been used to signify a prolonged period of dryness or low rainfall.
This chapter only discusses the use of the term drought as it relates to water shortages and how it is applied in various instances from forecasting to design.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook of Drought and Water Scarcity
Subtitle of host publicationPrinciples of Drought and Water Scarcity
EditorsSaeid Eslamian, Faezeh Eslamian
Place of PublicationUSA
PublisherCRC Press
Chapter1
Pages1-11
Number of pages11
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781315404226
ISBN (Print)9781498731027
Publication statusPublished - May 2017

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