Section 4: Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Hydrology
Subtopic: Drought and its classification
Question Statement:
While assessing the intensity of agricultural drought, a negative value of aridity index indicates that the area is classified as
Options:
(A) severely arid
(B) moderately arid
(C) mildly arid
(D) non-arid
Official Answer Key:
D
Step-by-Step Solution & Explanation
Aridity Index (AI) is typically defined from the water deficit relative to potential evapotranspiration (AI = 100×(PET−AET)/PET), and is non-negative when there is a moisture deficit. A negative AI implies actual evapotranspiration exceeds potential evapotranspiration (i.e., no water deficiency — a moisture surplus condition), which is classified as non-arid, matching (D).
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