Using a new integrated drought monitoring index to improve drought detection in mid-eastern China

Using data-mining technology, this paper established a new method, named the Integrated Surface Drought Index (ISDI). ISDI integrates traditional meteorological data, remotely sensed indices, and biophysical data, and attempt to describe drought from a more comprehensive perspective. The evaluation results indicated that the construction models for three phases of growth season have very high regression accuracy. The drought condition can be predicted using the independent variables. The practical application of ISDI in mid-eastern China also demonstrated that ISDI has good application accuracy in mid-eastern China. ISDI results were corresponding to the disaster observation records of agro-meteorological sites. It can be potentially extended to nationwide near real time drought monitoring.