Developing an Interactive Global Drought Information Dashboard Using Remotely Sensed Near-Real Time Monitoring

Large disparities currently exist between global and regional spatial scales in the availability of drought monitoring information. These disparities are caused, in part, by limited 1) data access or coverage and 2) accessible visualizations and interpretations for available drought monitoring data. The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is developing an interactive global drought information dashboard to provide timely drought monitoring resources to mitigate drought information access disparities. This project builds upon the previous global work of NIDIS and the Global Drought Information System (GDIS) as well as the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Science (CISESS). Remotely sensed precipitation information was used to address the issue of limited data coverage. Precipitation estimates from NOAA's CPC-Morphing Technique Climate Data Record (CMORPH-CDR) are used to develop near-real time, global Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) data with a 0.25 degree by 0.25 degree spatial resolution, daily temporal resolution, and a one day lag at various time scales. SPI is calculated using python software according to the methodology proposed by Guttman (1999). A feasibility study conducted in 2018 (Prat et al.), found that daily SPI derived from CMORPH-CDR using Guttman's methods adequately represented the temporal and spatial scales of major drought episodes in the continental United States and in other places around the world. Similar assessment metrics will be conducted globally using the NIDIS Drought Task Force (DTF) Protocol, dependent upon data availability. A variety of visualization techniques are used to aid in the interpretation of global drought indices while interactive functionality allows users to focus on the region and time-scale of interest. The global drought information dashboard includes the aforementioned beta near-real time global SPI product in addition to the data products currently provided by the GDIS website. NIDIS will maintain and continually improve the global drought information dashboard to better inform regional decision makers and provide an innovative communication tool for global drought monitoring.