Abstract: Based on the meteorological data of 10 stations in northern Shaanxi province from 1981 to 2012, the temporal and spatial distribution of drought and the identification of typical drought events were studied by using two commonly used meteorological drought indexes of SPEI and SPI, and the drought historical records were used to verify the adaptability of the two drought indexes in northern Shaanxi province. The results showed that, on the annual scale, SPEI could more accurately describe the interannual variation of drought in northern Shaanxi province than SPI. It was found that the drought in northern Shaanxi province has intensified in the past 32 years. On the seasonal scale, the expressions of the two drought indexes were basically the same, and it was found that spring drought was the main drought in northern Shaanxi province. From the point of view of spatial distribution, both of them found that the southeast of northern Shaanxi province was a region with high incidence of extreme drought. In the identification of 28 typical drought events, 19 events were identified by SPEI and 6 events identified by SPI, and SPEI was more accurate than SPI. To sum up, SPEI is more suitable for drought monitoring in northern Shaanxi province.

Key words: drought index, SPEI, SPI, applicability, northern Shaanxi province