An enhanced Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) drought-monitoring method integrating land surface characteristics

This dataset provides the input data required for the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) calculation and the resulted SPEI over multiple time scales (1, 3, 6, 12 months). All meteorological data are on a 0.25 deg grid within the Continental United States (112x232) and spanning the period of 1981-2017 (444 time steps).

Input data:

• Surface characteristics: land cover, LAI, canopy height, roughness related parameters, stomatal resistance, albedo
• Monthly precipitation (mm/d): taken from PRISM daily precipitation, aggregated from 4km to 0.25 deg.
• Monthly potential evapotranspiration (mm/d): derived from various PET approaches (as shown in the paper's Fig.5) based on meteorology data and surface vegetation characteristics, aggregated from multiple spatial resolutions to 0.25 deg.
• Output data: The corresponding SPEI series on 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month time scales over CONUS for 1981-2017.