The Palmer Drought Severity Index: limitations and assumptions.

Abstract

The structure of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), which is perhaps the most widely used regional index of drought, is examined. The PDSI addresses two of the most elusive properties of droughts: their intensity and their beginning and ending times. Under certain conditions, the PDSI values are very sensitive to the criteria for ending an 'established' drought and precipitation during a month can have a very large effect on the PDSI values for several previous months. -from Author