Assessment of multidimensional drought vulnerability using exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity components

This study provides a method for analyzing the drought-vulnerability index (DVI) from a multidimensional perspective that includes biophysical and social aspects, considering the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) assessment. The proposed method generates the "exposure index (EI)", "sensitivity index (SI)", and "adaptive capacity index (ACI)" components of the proposed DVI using nine sub-indicators and 29 proxy variables. By using it throughout all of Turkey's provinces, the performance of the developed index was evaluated. In this study, the decision matrices were built utilizing expert knowledge, and the weights of the indicators and variables were obtained by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Moreover, the values of these four indices were classified as "very high, high, moderate, low, and very low," and their geographical distribution across the country was drawn, as well as relevant patterns retrieved. The study's major results show that 17 of the 81 provinces are classified as "very high," 16 as "high," 15 as "moderate," 17 as "low," and the remaining 16 as "very low" drought vulnerable. Another significant result is that the majority of people in the country's south, center, and southeast rely on agriculture and are thus more vulnerable to drought due to socioeconomic underdevelopment in those regions.