EVALUATION OF HYDROLOGICAL SERIES IN LIBYA.

Droughts rank first among all natural hazards when measured in terms of the number of people affected. Drought is the most complex but least understood of all natural hazards. It is broadly defined as "severe water shortage". Northern Africa is one of the most arid areas of the world, with rainfalls that vary widely in terms of both temporal and geographical distribution. Libya just like most parts of North Africa is facing drought. Statistical analysis for time series can reveal possible trends in time. For drought risk analysis it is very important to study the historical climate parameters (temperature and precipitation) to know if there is a trend, downward or upward. The aim of this paper is an investigation of the trends by using statistical methods, exactly non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, in these parameters because they have a strong correlation and are related with drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]