Drought and Flood Analyses of Samsun City

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the flood and drought based on precipitation and streamflow data gathered from Samsun City, the most developed province of the Black Sea Region. Flood and drought analysis are important for the water resources management and important for anticipating the natural disasters that may occur in Samsun. The study has been carried out in two parts. In the first part, streamflow data, covering the period from 1964 to 2015, provided by the Current Observation Station, which is the most powerful parameter causing flood, was investigated for flood analysis by Mann-Kendall trend analysis. In the second part, the drought resulting from below-average precipitation value and it’s adverse effects on animals, plants and other living things, mainly on humans, was analyzed through the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Percentage of Normal Index (PNI). In the first part of the study, with regard to monthly Mann-Kendall trend analysis of monthly streamflow, positive trend was found for November. However, no trend was found for in terms of seasonal trend analysis. In the second part, drought condition was determined as nearly normal to at a percentage of 49% with regard to SPI index whereas the drought status was also found to be normal and over 51% with regard to PNI index.