Droughts are one of the most catastrophic natural disasters on the planet which can be impacting millions of people in various ways of life like food security, economic losses, and migration of the community. The growing severity of droughts and their catastrophic effects on communities in India’s semi-arid regions like Marathwada necessitate better drought monitoring and assessment systems strategies for Sustainable development of the peoples. Traditional mathematical methods like Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and Climate Moisture Index (CMI), etc., are used to analyse drought intensity.
In the present study, analysis of historical NDVI, NDWI and NDDI data from Dahegaon watershed of Gangapur Block of Ch. Sambhajinagar of period of 2014-2023 was conducted to identify patterns in drought characteristics change under Watershed development activities effect during pre development period (2014 to 2018) and post development period years (2019 to 2023). The satellite images for the years 2014 to 2023 were gathered at average annual of 365 day intervals, and remote sensing techniques were employed to calculate NDDI (normalized difference drought index) using NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) and NDWI (normalized difference water index). The comparative analysis of NDVI, NDWI and NDDI interpreted greater change in extreme drought situations and developed regions goes to other classes of less impactful on agricultural and biological system than extreme drought situation. It was concluded that as per NDWI classification of about 1% area shows positive changes against drought. as per NDVI classification about 42% area shows positive changes against drought. As per NDDI classification Extreme drought reduces by 7%. Exceptional drought reduces by 5%. Mild, Moderate and severe drought increases by about 2.5%, 7% and 2.5% respectively. Hence 34% area shows positive changes against drought as per NDDI classifications. The study utilized remote sensing and GIS applications to investigate changes in drought characteristics over the spatial and temporal situations.
