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VOL. 8, ISSUE 4 (2026)
Remote sensing and GIS techniques for assessment of drought vulnerability: Recent advances, challenges and future prospects
Authors
Shivali Deshmukh, Ingole S P
Abstract
Drought is an environmental risk phenomenon that has impacts on
vegetation cover, agriculture, soil moisture content, surface water, ground
water and the entire ecosystem. The traditional drought analysis using only
meteorological data sources gives useful time-based data; however, its
limitations have been poor station coverage and inability to capture the
spatial aspects of drought. The application of RS and GIS techniques has
greatly contributed to effective drought monitoring through repetitive and
continuous spatial observation of vegetation, temperature, rainfall, soil
moisture and surface water parameters. The following review highlights some of
the recent advances in the analysis of drought vulnerability using RS
techniques as well as GIS. The use of optical, thermal, and microwave data
provided by Landsat, MODIS, Sentinel, and SMAP satellites, along with
precipitation data from remote sensing provided by CHIRPS, has facilitated
monitoring of various aspects of drought. Some of the common drought indicators
are the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Vegetation Condition
Index (VCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Vegetation Health Index (VHI),
Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Standardized Precipitation Index
(SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and soil
moisture anomalies. The GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis facilitates
the combination of these indicators with environmental and anthropogenic
factors to identify drought vulnerability zones. The recent advancements in
cloud computing, multi-sensor integration, and machine learning provide new
avenues for drought assessment. Nonetheless, problems such as low spatial
resolution, uncertainties in the weighting process, limited ground validation
and regional variability still persist. Drought-vulnerability research that is
conducted in the future should pay attention to the integrated approach of
land, vegetation and water assessments and utilize multi-sensor data.
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Pages:56-60
How to cite this article:
Shivali Deshmukh, Ingole S P "Remote sensing and GIS techniques for assessment of drought vulnerability: Recent advances, challenges and future prospects". International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Vol 8, Issue 4, 2026, Pages 56-60
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