⁎ Ecological Frontiers 45 (2025) 145–153 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecological Frontiers journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecofro Full length article Comparison of meteorological drought in the dry and wet zones of Sri Lanka Chethiya Herath a,b , a State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing 100085, China b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China Weiqi Zhou a,b , Jia Wang a, ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jiawang@rcees.ac.cn (J. Wang). ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Meteorological drought Absolute drought Partial drought Colombo Metropolitan Area Sri Lanka ABSTRACT Meteorological drought (MD) is characterized by a prolonged deficit in precipitation over a specific region and period of time. Despite it creates negative impact on the local economy, ecosystems, agriculture in afflicted lands, researches on MD is significantly constrained. This study investigates the current occurrences and recent trends of MD in Sri Lanka, with specific focus on the Dry Zone represented by Anuradhapura and Vavniya districts, and the Wet Zone represented by Colombo Metropolitan Area (CMA). Daily rainfall data from Department of Meteorology, Sri Lanka, spanning from 2003 to 2018, has been gathered for analysis. The calculation method for MD is grounded in Domros' theory. The study investigates drought occurrences in the Dry Zone, revealing distinct disparities. Anuradhapura peaks for Absolute Drought (AD) events in June and August, while Vavniya experiences its zenith in June. In contrast, the Colombo Metro- politan Area shows diverse drought patterns, with Colombo peaking in AD events in February and Gampaha in January. There exists a strong correlation between the occurrence of drought seasons and the monsoon patterns of the country. During the North East Monsoon (NEM), MD events across the dry zone and the condition shift to the Colombo Metropol- itan Area during the South West Monsoon (SWM). Anuradhapura encounters 78 AD events, with 2012 marked by a surge during the SWM period. The study provides valuable insights into the current status of MD occurrences, unveiling new trends. The findings offer potential implications for regional agricultural planning and community resilience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecofro.2024.10.002 Received 18 September 2024; Received in revised form 30 September 2024; Accepted 1 October 2024 Available online 25 October 2024 2950-5097/© 2024 Ecological Society of China. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technol- ogies. 1. Introduction Drought is the most frequent disaster listed out of 21 natural or man- made disasters identified in the Disaster Management Act No. 13, 2005 of Sri Lanka [1]. With climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli- mate Change has reported an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, including drought and floods [75]. In 2018, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, and Dominica topped the list of the most affected countries, according to the Global Climate Risk Index [2]. Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. It is a slow on-set phenomenon caused by a lack of rainfall [3] including meteoro- logical drought, hydrological drought [4,27], agricultural or vegetative drought [5] and Meteorological Drought (MD). MD, the most traditional and widely recognized perspective, focuses on deviations in precipitation patterns from historical averages [6]. All droughts originate from meteoro- logical drought [1,17]. Meteorological drought, a prolonged deficit in pre- cipitation over a specific region and time, is a critical climatic phenomenon that significantly impacts water availability, agriculture, and various socio- economic aspects [7,18,19,22]. Meteorological drought occurs when dry weather patterns dominate an area, resulting in a significant decrease (typ- ically more than 25 %) from normal precipitation levels [8,23]. The historical exploration of drought studies in Sri Lanka traces back to the late nineteenth century, marked by meteorologists initiating systematic observations and assistance efforts [7]. In Sri Lanka, drought primarily con- cerns farmers in the Dry Zone, for example, Anuradhapura and Vavniya Dis- tricts [35,54], where recurrent water shortages affect agriculture, livelihoods, and communities [7,74]. Nowadays, the Disaster Management Act No. 13 of 2005 identifies drought as the most frequent natural disaster in Sri Lanka. The Dry Zone consistently faces drought hazards, transforming them into disasters with adverse impacts on communities [31,52,55]. Mete- orological drought in Sri Lanka is a multifaceted phenomenon shaped by the complex interaction of global, regional, and local factors [76]. For ex- ample, at the regional scale, the meteorological situations during the North- east monsoon, mid-March to early May, and Southwest monsoon significantly influence precipitation patterns, creating conditions condu- cive to drought [9,45,46,48]. In the wet zone of the country, however, the understanding of whether drought occurs and the changes in its fre- quency remains unclear. Is MD occurring and continuing over the past de- cades in the wet zone, like that in the dry zone? Here, this study endeavors to reveal recent trends in MD occurrences, particularly within these distinct regions: the Wet Zone and the Dry Zone in Sri Lanka, to address the research problem of whether meteorological