The National Drought Mitigation CenterMonitoring Drought in the 21st Century
Mark Svoboda, Climatologist
National Drought Mitigation Center
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
National Drought Mitigation Center
Mission: To lessen societal vulnerability to drought by promoting
planning and the adoption of appropriate risk management
techniques.
NDMC Program Objectives
Improve the science of drought monitoring, planning, and mitigation Build awareness of drought and its impacts on society and the environmentBuild awareness of how human actions affect our vulnerability to droughtFocus the attention of policy makers on the importance of drought policy and planning in the wise stewardship of natural resources
RESEARCH, OUTREACH, AND TRAINING
Outreach and Training
WorkshopsUSDA/RMAU.S. Bureau of ReclamationInternational
Website6 million page views in 2004Drought MonitorDrought Impact Reporter
Media500+ national/international media contacts annuallyInternational
Characteristics of Crisis Management
Reactive, post-impact
Poorly coordinated
Untimely
Poorly targeted
Ineffective
Components of Drought Plans
Monitoring/early warningFoundation of a drought mitigation plan
Indices linked to impacts and triggers
Risk and impact assessment Who and what is at risk and why
Mitigation and responseActions/programs that reduce risk and impacts and enhance recovery
Natural and Social Dimensions of Drought
MeteorologicalAgricultural
Hydrological
Socio-economic
Decreasing emphasis on the natural event (precipitation deficiencies)
Increasing emphasis on water/natural resource management
Increasing complexity of impacts and conflicts
Time/Duration of the event
Vulnerability Analysis
Impact AssessmentSocial
Environmental
Economic
Causal Assessment
Temporal Trends
Western Drought CoordinationCouncil
How to ReduceDroughtRisk Preparedness and Mitigation
Working Group
March 1998
Principal Authors:
Cody Knutson,National Drought Mitigation Center
Mike Hayes,National Drought Mitigation Center
Tom Phillips,U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
http://drought.unl.edu/handbook/risk.pdf
National Initiatives
National Drought Preparedness Act
National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) http://www.westgov.org/wga/publicat/nidis.pdf
N • I • D • I • S
NIDIS GoalsDevelop leadership and partnerships to ensure implementation of NIDISEstablish an integrated federal drought research programCreate a drought early warning systemDevelop an impact reporting/methodology toolProvide interactive delivery systems (enhance the Drought Monitor)Provide a framework for interacting with and educating decision makers and the public
U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification
“To combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought . . including the
adoption of drought preparedness plans.”
NDMC International Activities
Morocco Drought Observatory
Drought/Climate Change Coping
Strategies-UNDP DDC
NATO Science Program-Czech Republic
South Korea National Drought
Center
Australian National Drought Policy book
China/US Drought Monitoring Project
w/NOAA/USDA/WMO
North American Drought Monitor
UNESCO Integrated Drought Risk
Management Center for Southern Africa
Mediterranean Drought Mitigation
Workshop
African Drought Risk Policy Forum
w/UNDP DDC
ISDR Drought Discussion Group
MEDROPLAN Project-EC
Pakistan National Drought Center
Jordan TCP-FAO
Sao Paulo Drought Mitigation and
Monitoring Center
Global Drought Preparedness Network
GOAL:
To help nations build greater institutional capacity to cope with drought by promoting risk management and sharing lessons learned on drought monitoring and prediction, mitigation, and preparedness.
Building a Network of Regional Networks through Regional and Global Partnerships
Individually, many nations will be unable to improve drought coping capacity.
Collectively, through global, regional, and national partnerships, we can share information and experiences to reduce the impacts of drought.
Global Drought Preparedness Network
GDPN Regional Networks
NEMEDCA Network
w/ICARDA, FAO and CIHEAM
North American Network
Sub-Saharan African Network w/UNDP DDC,
ISDR and others
Asian Network w/ ESCAP, ISDR,
WMO and others
Drought Mitigation CenterNational
A Partnership
www.unisdr.org
A Web-Based National Drought Impacts Reporting
Tool (DRI Reporter)
Mark Svoboda, Michael Hayes, Don Wilhite, Melissa Higgins and Deb Wood
National Drought Mitigation CenterUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
Why Monitor Drought Impacts?
Drought is a normal part of the climatic cycle
Drought impacts are significant and widespread
Many economic sectors affected
Drought is expensiveSince 1980, major droughts and heat waves within the U.S. alone have resulted in costs exceeding $100 billion (NCDC)
U.S. Drought Impact Facts
Drought is the most costly U.S. natural disaster FEMA estimates losses at $6-8 billion annually (1995)1988, $39 billion ($62B in 2004 $)2002, $20+ billion2003, $15+ billion2004-05, ???
Impacts are becoming more complex agriculture, energy production, transportation, tourism and recreation, forest and wild land fires, urban water supply, environment and human healthConflicts between water users increasingNo systematic national, state, or local assessment of drought impacts
DRI Reporter Tool
Went live on July 27! http://drought.unl.edu
Web-based (GIS architecture) package of products and interactive features
Ability to incorporate user-supplied input and information/feedback (all levels)
A comprehensive archive of news articlesLocation- and theme-based
Map and database formats
Clipping service: 7,100 publications daily
NDMC: 11,000 news stories since 1997
Potential Outcomes
Ability to do national assessments
Building first national impacts database/archive
Consistent reporting methodologiesNational, state, local levels
Ingest/integrate regional impact data (RISAs, RCCs, SCs, tribal, state/fed reports, academic, etc.) into national database
Heighten awareness of drought as a hazard
http://drought.unl.edu/
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