Geografi Vol. (4), No. (2), (2016), 9-20 © Penerbit Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 2016 ISSN 2289-4470 /eISSN 2462-2400 9 Analysis of Meteorological Drought in Tihama Plain, Yemen Using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) Analisis Kemarau Meteorologi di Dataran Tihama, Yaman Menggunakan Indeks Piawai Kerpasan Ali Ahmed Dhaif Allah, Noorazuan Md. Hashim* School for Social, Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia *emel: azwan@ukm.edu.my Abstract Meteorological drought occurs when precipitation rate is less than usual for a period of time in affected areas. This article aims to analyse the meteorological drought in the Tihama Plain, as one of the most important agricultural areas in Yemen contributing 42 percent to the total agricultural production in the country. The study attempts to find out if the plain is currently facing drought conditions through analysing the rainfall data obtained from five meteorological stations for the past 30 years (1980-2010). The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) method normally gives best results regardless of other climatic parameters such as humidity, minimum and maximum temperature, potential evapotranspiration and sun hours as it gives accurate result using only precipitation data. The reason beyond using SPI method is that its results are effective and they are similar to the actual drought situation with some exception of the extreme condition of severe drought. SPI was calculated using 3 months’ time scale from the monthly precipitation record. Then, the results were classified to determine the severity of drought (mild, moderate, severe and very severe) based on the SPI values. The results showed that the region faces the risk of drought, where the percentage of drought severity reached 47.43 percent in all the categories (mild 39.12%, moderate 5.41%, severe 1.84%, and very severe 1.06%). It was found that the eastern part of the region is more vulnerable to drought. Keywords meteorological drought, precipitation, drought conditions, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), drought severity, Tihama Plain Abstrak Kemarau meteorologi berlaku apabila kadar hujan adalah kurang daripada nilai biasa untuk tempoh masa mencukupi bagi ketakseimbangan dalam kitaran hidrologi di kawasan yang terlibat. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kemarau meteorologi di Dataran Tihama, yang merupakan salah satu kawasan pertanian yang paling penting di Yaman yang menyumbang kira-kira 42 peratus daripada jumlah pengeluaran pertanian di negara ini. Dalam tahun- tahun kebelakangan ini, Dataran Tihama menghadapi perubahan dalam musim hujan, yang memberi kesan negatif terhadap pertanian dan air bawah tanah. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti keadaan kemarau dengan menganalisis data hujan yang diperoleh daripada lima stesen meteorologi untuk 30 tahun yang lalu (1980-2010) dengan menggunakan Indeks Piawai Kerpasan (SPI), iaitu satu indeks paling boleh dipercayai untuk mengukur tempoh, keterukan dan keruangan kemarau. Keputusan SPI menganalisis untuk tempoh masa keseluruhan 30 tahun (1980-2010) menunjukkan bahawa rantau ini menghadapi risiko kemarau, iaitu peratusan kemarau adalah sebanyak 47.43 peratus dalam semua kategori (ringan 39.12%, sederhana 5.41%, yang teruk 1.84%, dan sangat teruk 1.06%). Kajian ini membuktikan bahawa bahagian timur rantau ini adalah lebih terdedah kepada kemarau meteorologi. Kata kunci kemarau meteorologi, kerpasan, keadaan kemarau, Indeks Piawai Kerpasan, keterukan kemarau, Dataran Tihama