Important drought years over Turkey

Aim of this study is obtain drought years patterns in literature via Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and detect performance of this approach. Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) calculated by using the temperature and precipitation data from 96 meteorological stations in Turkey and the data soil water-holding capacity (AWHC) of DAAC in the U.S. ORNL data and then PDSI classes separated to seven drought subclasses as NOAA classification. According to result of this study, obtained drought years and drought years in literature are similar. In this context, Palmer drought severity index is useful tolls in drought mitigation and drought monitoring in Turkey.