Remote Sensing of Drought (Drought and Water Crises)

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.

Brian D. Wardlow is an assistant professor and GIScience program area leader for the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. For more information, visit the National Drought Mitigation Center web site at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Martha C. Anderson is a physical scientist in the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland. For more information, visit Dr. Anderson’s web page at USDA ARS.

James P. Verdin is a physical scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Early Warning and Environmental Monitoring (EWEM) Program. For more information, visit the EWEM web site.