Agricultural droughts affect whole societies, leading to higher food costs, threatened economies, and even famine. In order to mitigate such effects, researchers must first be able to monitor them, and then predict them; however no book currently focuses on accurate monitoring or prediction of these devastating kinds of droughts. To fill this void, the editors of Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought have assembled a team of expert contributors from all continents to make a global study, describing biometeorological models and monitoring methods for agricultural droughts. These models and methods note the relationships between precipitation, soil moisture, and crop yields, using data gathered from conventional and remote sensing techniques. The coverage of the book includes probabilistic models and techniques used in America, Europe and the former USSR, Africa, Asia, and Australia, and it concludes with coverage of climate change and resultant shifts in agricultural productivity, drought early warning systems, and famine mitigation. This will be an essential collection for those who must advise governments or international organizations on the current scope, likelihood, and impact of agricultural droughts. Sponsored by the World Meterological Organization

Information-based decision-making during drought, often brings out some of the excellent practices that are prevalent in society / individuals. This book is designed to provide information on the drought process, meteorological, hydrological, agriculture, socio-economic aspects and available technologies such as satellite remote sensing data analysis and Geographical Information system for assessment. Assessment procedures utilising the various parameters of importance from various sources for micro level management that would enhance the effectiveness of management practice are dealt in detail. Resource availability and affected group determine the relief assistance for the present event and information that would help them in their realisation and preparedness for the forthcoming years by select countries is highlighted. This would help in the formulation of schemes for event mitigation and area development plans. The readers would gain complete knowledge on drought. This book is expected to act as a guide in preparing people as effective natural resource utilizationist under drought situations.

Remote Sensing of Drought: Innovative Monitoring Approaches presents emerging remote sensing-based tools and techniques that can be applied to operational drought monitoring and early warning around the world. The first book to focus on remote sensing and drought monitoring, it brings together a wealth of information that has been scattered throughout the literature and across many disciplines. Featuring contributions by leading scientists, it assembles a cross-section of globally applicable techniques that are currently operational or have potential to be operational in the near future. The book explores a range of applications for monitoring four critical components of the hydrological cycle related to drought: vegetation health, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and groundwater, and precipitation. These applications use remotely sensed optical, thermal, microwave, radar, and gravity data from instruments such as AMSR-E, GOES, GRACE, MERIS, MODIS, and Landsat and implement several advanced modeling and data assimilation techniques. Examples show how to integrate this information into routine drought products. The book also examines the role of satellite remote sensing within traditional drought monitoring, as well as current challenges and future prospects. Improving drought monitoring is becoming increasingly important in addressing a wide range of societal issues, from food security and water scarcity to human health, ecosystem services, and energy production. This unique book surveys innovative remote sensing approaches to provide you with new perspectives on large-area drought monitoring and early warning.

Farming communities in the United States and around the world lose billions of dollars every year due to drought. Drought Indices such as the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) are widely used by the government agencies to assess and respond to drought. These drought indices are currently monitored at a large spatial resolution (several thousand km2). Further, these drought indices are primarily based on precipitation deficits and are thus good indicators for monitoring large scale meteorological drought. However, agricultural drought depends on soil moisture and evapotranspiration deficits. Hence, two drought indices, the Evapotranspiration Deficit Index (ETDI) and Soil Moisture Deficit Index (SMDI), were developed in this study based on evapotranspiration and soil moisture deficits, respectively. A Geographical Information System (GIS) based approach was used to simulate the hydrology using soil and land use properties at a much finer spatial resolution (16km2) than the existing drought indices. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate the long-term hydrology of six watersheds located in various climatic zones of Texas. The simulated soil water was well-correlated with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI (r ~ 0.6) for agriculture and pasture land use types, indicating that the model performed well in simulating the soil water. Using historical weather data from 1901-2002, long-term weekly normal soil moisture and evapotranspiration were estimated. This long-term weekly normal soil moisture and evapotranspiration data was used to calculate ETDI and SMDI at a spatial resolution of 4km x 4km. Analysis of the data showed that ETDI and SMDI compared well with wheat and sorghum yields (r> 0.75) suggesting that they are good indicators of agricultural drought. Rainfall is a highly variable input both spatially and temporally. Hence, the use of NEXRAD rainfall data was studied for simulating soil moisture and drought. Analysis of the data showed that raingages often miss small rainfall events that introduce considerable spatial variability among soil moisture simulated using raingage and NEXRAD rainfall data, especially during drought conditions. The study showed that the use of NEXRAD data could improve drought monitoring at a much better spatial resolution.

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The second volume of this comprehensive global perspective on Integrated Drought Management is focused on drought modeling, meteorological prediction, and the use of remote sensing in assessing, analyzing, and monitoring drought. It discusses risk management, planning, policy, and societal impacts of drought such as water pricing, water transfer, water quality, and crop insurance. Through numerous case studies from India, Iran, Brazil, the US, Nepal, and other countries that cover a broad range of topics and geographical regions, this volume serves as a valuable resource for all professionals, researchers, and academics who want to advance their knowledge about droughts. Features Provides a global perspective on drought prediction and management and a synthesis of the recent state of knowledge. Covers a wide range of topics from essential concepts and advanced techniques for forecasting and modeling drought to societal impacts, consequences, and planning Presents numerous case studies with different management approaches from different regions and countries. Addresses how climate change impacts drought, the increasing challenges associated with managing drought, decision-making, and policy implications. Includes contributions from hundreds of experts from around the world. Professionals, researchers, academics, and postgraduate students with knowledge in environmental sciences, ecology, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, water resources engineering, and earth sciences, as well as those interested in how climate change impacts drought management, will gain new insights from the experts featured in this two-volume handbook.