This paper investigates the spatial and temporal aspect of seasonal agricultural drought in Ethiopia during the cropping season using Vegetation Condition Index. SPOT-VGT S10 NDVI time-series for the period 1998 to 2013 was employed. Five hundred and sixty-seven dekadal images were administered in order to produce the multi-temporal agricultural drought maps. Accordingly, the analysis showed different causes for the nation-wide drought events occurred in the years 1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, and 2010.

Ethiopia is one of the African countries facing problems of environmental degradation. In particular, the problem is severe in the Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia highlands where, environmental degradation is threatening many parts of the region. Efforts to contain this problem and facilitate natural rehabilitation have been made at several levels. The establishment of area enclosures, and soil and water conservation works are two of the main strategies promoted to contain land degradation and restore the natural vegetation.

With the development of global changes, researchers from all over the world increasingly pay attention to drought detection, and severe droughts that may have resulted from climate change. In this paper, spatial and temporal variability of drought is evaluated based on precipitation data and remotely sensed images. The standard precipitation index (SPI) and vegetation condition index (VCI) are used to evaluate the spatial and temporal characteristics of meteorological and vegetative drought in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.