Spatiotemporal detection of abrupt change in trends of rainfall and dry and wet periods at different time scales: The case of the Medjerda basin in northeast Algeria

This study investigates possible rainfall and drought trends using data from 38 rainfall stations in the Medjerda basin (northeast of Algeria) over 54 years (1965–2018). Drought-related data were calculated with the Standardized precipitation index (SPI). The Mann–Kendall test was used to find positive or negative precipitation trends. The magnitude of these trends was calculated using Sen’s slope method. According to the analysis, a decrease during the spring precipitation season was observed. Furthermore, the authors found the maximum increasing (decreasing) precipitation magnitude to be 2.14 mm/season (− 4.41 mm/season) in winter (spring). In addition, the magnitude of the precipitation trend per year ranged from − 6.26 to 2.54 mm/year, with an average reduction of 39% for the entire basin. From the outcomes of drought trend analysis, it can be inferred that for a short-time scale, the innovative trend analysis method exhibited a negative trend for the minimum and maximum SPI values. Drought severity was found to have increased during severe and extreme wet episodes, directly affecting Algeria’s frequently drought-affected agricultural regions, such as the Merdja plain and the irrigated perimeters of Sedrata and Zouabi. Considering the long-time scales, an increase was detected in drought severity and a decline during severe and extreme wet episodes. These findings show that the southeastern and central parts of the Medjerda basin’s long-term water resources have been severely affected, which negatively impacts the newly-constructed Ouldjet Mellegue dam in Tébessa province. © 2023, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences & Polish Academy of Sciences.