www.old.acta-agrophysica.org / semi_year_book

vol. 11, nr. 2 (2008)



 
Meteorological vs. agricultural drought and sugar beet cultivation in spring season in soils of different available water retention
Bogdan B±k1, Leszek Łabędzki2
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1 Bydgoszcz Weather Bureau, ul. Bołtucia 10/20, 85-791 Bydgoszcz
2 Institute for Land Reclamation and Grassland Farming, Regional Research Centre, ul. Glinki 60, 85-174 Bydgoszcz

vol. 11 (2008), nr. 2, pp. 335-344
abstract: The aim of the research was to estimate the threat of drought to sugar beet cultivation in the spring season in the region of Kujawy. For this purpose, analysis was made of the relationships between spring meteorological droughts and agricultural droughts in four soils of different available water retention. Based on 50-year (1953-2003) meteorological data series, crop coefficients and soil-water parameters, two indices of droughts were calculated: SPI and CDIw. The first is an index of meteorological drought and it is computed on the basis of long term record of precipitations. The latter is an index of agricultural drought and refers to the reduction of evapotranspiration in relation to average evapotranspiration in multi-year period. Simulation of evapotranspiration and soil water content was performed with the CROPBALANCE model. In the Kujawy region spring meteorological droughts occur every two years, on average. Agricultural droughts occur at almost the same frequency, but their number is dependent on the soil and its total available water content. Agri-cultural droughts are the most frequent on soils with the lowest water retention (50%) and the most infrequent on soils with the highest water retention (42%).
keywords: meteorological drought, agricultural drought, SPI, evapotranspiration
original in: Polish