Using visualization techniques to outline vulnerability to drought in the Republic of Moldova. This paper is a demonstration of use of various visualization techniques in representing the results on vulnerability to drought at various times scales in the Republic of Moldova. Monthly precipitation totals from simulated data at 10 km horizontal resolution with a regional climatic model RegCM, CRU TS2.10 land observation data set at 0.5ºx0.5º horizontal resolution and observations recorded at 15 meteorological stations in Moldova were used to compare the annual cycle of precipitation, seasonal variability of precipitation, and the spatial and temporal evolution of drought. The Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) analysis was used to identify the principal modes of seasonal variability of precipitation over the country and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was calculated as an indicator of drought or wetness at various time scales (1 to 24 months). The period of analysis was 1960-1997. One of the visualization techniques was the Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS) which is an easy manipulation and visualization tool for gridded and station meteorological data. We used it to represent the RegCM and CRU data on their grids. The kriging interpolation with a Gaussian model variance was selected as a suitable interpolation tool for the spatial distribution of the SPI and EOF over Moldova. For temporal diagram and mapping, Golden Software Surfer 9.0 and ArcGis Software 9.1 were used. The results presented with these visualization tools emphasize precipitation and drought characteristics over Moldova domain
