PowerSDI (Q5978017)

A set of functions designed to calculate the standardised precipitation and standardised precipitation evapotranspiration indices using NASA POWER data as described in Blain et al. (2023) <doi:10.2139/ssrn.4442843>. These indices are calculated using a reference data source. The functions verify if the indices' estimates meet the assumption of normality and how well NASA POWER estimates represent real-world data. Indices are calculated in a routine mode. Potential evapotranspiration amounts and the difference between rainfall and potential evapotranspiration are also calculated. The functions adopt a basic time scale that splits each month into four periods. Days 1 to 7, days 8 to 14, days 15 to 21, and days 22 to 28, 29, 30, or 31, where 'TS=4' corresponds to a 1-month length moving window (calculated 4 times per month) and 'TS=48' corresponds to a 12-month length moving window (calculated 4 times per month).