Droughts, which consist of natural and transient water deficits, endanger the water, food, and energy security of ecosystems. An effective drought preparedness strategy must focus on mitigating socioeconomic vulnerabilities to the phenomenon. In this context, the article aims to analyze the multi-annual characteristic of droughts in the Northeast region of Brazil. The study identifies each pixel under a spatial-temporal perspective of the phenomenon’s severity, based on data from the Drought Monitor, providing a multi-annual and cumulative view of the extreme event. The approach aggregates a series of spatial-temporal drought severity data in a single product with clusters of monthly data referring to 5 years of outputs from the Drought Monitor. The results reveal that from July 2014 to June 2019, over 75% of the Northeast region of Brazil (NEB) area registers exceptional drought for, at least, 1 month along the 5 years. This result means impacts on water supply and crops that correspond respectively to the water dams collapsing volumes and widespread agricultural losses. Despite the natural recurrence and constancy of drought phenomena in the region, water management policies have often based the building of disproportionate and costly water infrastructure works. Cumulative multi-annual analysis of the outputs of drought monitoring can be an early warning system for water basins, regions, or municipalities, notably those who usually live with recurrent highly severe droughts, and remain neglected upon a remarkable vulnerability. This approach also supports proactive and preventive drought management instead of the usual emergency crisis management model.

由自然和短暂缺水构成的干旱危及生态系统的水，食物和能源安全。一个有效的干旱准备战略必须集中于减轻这一现象的社会经济脆弱性。在这种情况下，本文旨在分析巴西东北地区干旱的多年期特征。这项研究基于干旱监测仪提供的数据，从现象的严重性的时空角度识别了每个像素，从而提供了极端事件的多年累积视图。该方法在单个产品中汇总了一系列时空干旱严重性数据，并结合了每月数据（涉及干旱监测仪5年的产出）。结果显示，从2014年7月到2019年6月，在过去的5年中，巴西东北地区（NEB）超过75％的干旱至少持续了1个月。这一结果意味着对水供应和农作物的影响分别对应于水坝塌陷的数量和广泛的农业损失。尽管该地区自然而然地出现干旱现象，但水资源管理政策往往以建造不成比例且昂贵的水利基础设施工程为基础。对干旱监测结果进行的多年累计分析可以成为流域，地区或市政当局的预警系统，尤其是那些经常遭受严重的反复干旱而仍然被忽视的脆弱性预警系统。