Evaluation of the Potential of Surface Soil Moisture to Identify the Drought Periods in a Mediterranean Region (Tunisia)

The surface soil moisture is a main indicator of droughts. Therefore, in the present work, we analyzed the potential of two operational products of surface soil moisture, namely High-Resolution Soil Moisture (HRSM) and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) to identify the drought periods. These climatic analyses are based on the examination of a drought index calculated as function of the monthly averages of soil moisture from 2017 to June 2022 according to the bioclimatic stages of the Tunisian territory. The proposed index’s time series are highlighted by minimum values of soil moisture since the end of the year 2021. This period is in coherence with the extreme drought period since 2021 in Tunisia.