Dataset of a composite drought index based on remote sensing data for Niger

The present dataset was created for agricultural drought characterization in the Sahelian climate zone of Niger. The dataset comprises the seasonal time series of a composite drought index (CDI) and the corresponding drought classes at a spatial resolution of 1 km2 for the period 2000-2020. The CDI was computed from remotely sensed data, namely precipitation of the CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) data from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer).

The files in the present dataset are:
- A netcdf file containing drought intensities and drought classes
- A netcdf of the accumulated seasonal CHIRPS rainfall data
- A netcdf file of the mean seasonal NDVI data
- A netcdf file of the mean day time LST data
- A shapefile of the map of Niger
- A jpeg file describing the study area
- Three png file of the figure used in the data in brief article