@article{fdi:010076544,
  title = {{I}mpact of the dry-day definition on {M}editerranean extreme dry-spell analysis},
  author = {{R}ivoire, {P}. and {T}ramblay, {Y}ves and {N}eppel, {L}. and {H}ertig, {E}. and {V}icente-{S}errano, {S}. {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}o define a dry day, the most common approach is to identify a fixed threshold below which precipitation is considered equivalent to zero. {T}his fixed threshold is usually set to account for measurement errors and precipitation losses due to the atmospheric evaporation demand. {Y}et, this threshold could vary in time according to the seasonal cycle and in the context of long-term trends, such as the increase in temperature due to climate change. {I}n this study, we compare extreme dry spells, defined either with a fixed threshold for a dry day (1 mm) or with a time-varying threshold estimated from reference evapotranspiration ({ET}0), for a large database of 160 rain gauges covering large parts of the {M}editerranean basin. {R}esults indicated positive trends in {ET}0 during summer months ({J}une, {J}uly and {A}ugust) in particular. {H}owever, these trends do not imply longer dry spells since the daily precipitation intensities remain higher than the increase in the evaporative demand. {R}esults also indicated a seasonal behavior: in winter the distribution of extreme dry spells is similar when considering a fixed threshold (1 mm) or a time-varying threshold defined with {ET}0. {H}owever, during summer, the extreme dry-spell durations estimated with a 1 mm threshold are strongly underestimated in comparison to extreme dry spells computed with {ET}0. {W}e stress the need to account for the atmospheric evaporative demand instead of using fixed thresholds for defining a dry day when analyzing dry spells, with respect to agricultural impacts in particular.},
  keywords = {{ZONE} {MEDITERRANEENNE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{N}atural {H}azards and {E}arth {S}ystem {S}ciences},
  volume = {19},
  numero = {8},
  pages = {1629--1638},
  ISSN = {1561-8633},
  year = {2019},
  DOI = {10.5194/nhess-19-1629-2019},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010076544},
}