The typical trend of crop water deficits in Southern Italy may be described briefly as follows:

- a general increase from North to South;
- a double hump (camel-like) profile in an East-West direction across the peninsula, i.e. from sea to sea over the mountains. The central depression of the water deficits profile appears slightly hidden in the maps partly because the Appennine mountain range, greater than 500 m a.s.l., has been excluded from the map, partly on account of the marked tortuousness of the contour line. A gradual increase can be observed from the coast towards the inland areas, up to the the point where precipitation in conjunction with the decrease in temperature determines an inversion in the trend.