Daily SPEI-90 Days Values – Elevation Below 1500 m a.s.l., 1950–2023

Science Case Name 

Multi-Hazards in the Downstream Area of the Adige River Basin. 

Dataset Name/Title 

Daily SPEI-90 Days Values – Elevation Below 1500 m a.s.l., 1950–2023

Dataset Description 

SPEI (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index) data calculated using the E-OBS daily gridded data with a spatial resolution of 0.1° for the period from 1950 to 2023. The dataset describes the anomalies of the balance between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration with respect to the average conditions (Vicente-Serrano et al., 2010), considering both temperature and precipitation as inputs. 

Key Methodologies 

Daily SPEI is here calculated at a time scale of 90 days (3 months). The SPEI calculation is based on the ‘SPEI’ R package by Beguería and Vicente-Serrano (2023) (https://github.com/sbegueria/SPEI) with the potential evapotranspiration derived from Hargreaves-Samani formulation. Based on E-OBS orography, SPEI values for altitudes above 1500 m a.s.l. are excluded from the current analysis to focus on low and mid-elevation areas only.

Temporal Domain 

1950–2023

Spatial Domain 

The dataset is provided over the [7.10, 44.10, 15.30, 49.10] spatial domain (min longitude, min latitude, max longitude, max latitude in WGS84, EPSG:4326).

Key Variables/Indicators 

Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index 90-days (SPEI-90 days)

Data Format 

netCDF 

Source Data 

E-OBS dataset (v29.0e)

Accessibility 

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13778103

Stakeholder Relevance 

SPEI represents a valuable insight for researchers working on drought related issues, technical experts from public agencies and practitioners, as it is a comprehensive index able to identify drought hazard (dry event), while also considering temperature in the computation. Moreover, it can foster the use of Earth Observation when coupled with event identification methods by providing a robust meteorological-based event identification. This can be then further refined by the use of higher spatial resolution EO data capable of capturing subtle spatial patterns (e.g., soil moisture as influenced by droughts).

Limitations/Assumptions 

Excludes areas above 1500 m a.s.l. 

Additional Outputs/Information 

DBSCAN 3D Clusters of SPEI-90 Days Values – Italian NUTS3 (ITH31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37), 1950–2023 (https://zenodo.org/records/13785996) 

The dataset access is currently restricted due to pending related publication.

Contact Information

Crespi, Alice (Center for Climate Change and Transformation, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy) - Data manager
Lemus i Cánovas, Marc (Center for Climate Change and Transformation, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy, CRETUS, Non-linear Physics Group, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain)- Data curator
Maines, Elena (Center for Climate Change and Transformation, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy) - Data curator
Masina, Marinella (CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change)- Data curator
Maraschini, Margherita (CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) - Data curator
Ferrario, Davide Mauro (CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) - Data curator
Furlanetto, Jacopo (CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, National Biodiversity Future Center) - Data manager
Pittore, Massimiliano (Center for Climate Change and Transformation, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy) - Data manager
Terzi, Stefano (Center for Climate Change and Transformation, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy) - Data manager
Torresan, Silvia (CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, National Biodiversity Future Center) - Data manager