Ways of computing Drought Monitor statistics
Statistics are calculated weekly for the U.S. Drought Monitor by two different methods that we refer to as “cumulative,” which is how we did it from the beginning, or “categorical,” meaning we report on one category at a time. Below is an explanation of each method.
| |
Absolute Values |
Cumulative Statistics |
Categorical Statistics |
| Area, Absolute |
Sq miles in drought |
Reports areas from D0 through D0-4 |
Reports areas one drought category at a time |
| Area, Proportional |
% of area |
Reports areas from D0 through D0-4 |
Reports areas one drought category at a time |
| Population, Absolute |
People in drought |
Reports population from D0 through D0-4 |
Reports population one drought category at a time |
| Population, Proportional |
% of people (in area) |
Reports population from D0 through D0-4 |
Reports population one drought category at a time |