  Time series data on cropping pattern at disaggregated level were analysed and
its implications on geospatial drought assessment were demonstrated. An index
of Cropping Pattern Dissimilarity (CP-DI) between a pair of years, developed in
this study, proved that the cropping pattern of a year has a higher degree of
similarity with that of recent past years only and tends to be dissimilar with
longer time difference. The temporal divergence in cropping pattern has direct
implications on geospatial approach of drought assessment, in which, time
series NDVI data are compared for drought interpretation. It was found that,
seasonal NDVI profiles of drought year and normal year did not show any anomaly
when the cropping patterns were dissimilar and two normal years having
dissimilar cropping pattern showed different NDVI profiles. Therefore, it is
suggested that such temporal comparisons of NDVI are better restricted to
recent past years to achieve more objective interpretation.
