Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2014KS170B

Moving Towards a Real-Time Drought Assessment and Forecasting System for Kansas

Institute: Kansas
Year Established: 2014 Start Date: 2014-03-01 End Date: 2016-02-29
Total Federal Funds: $28,784 Total Non-Federal Funds: $58,022

Principal Investigators: Xiaomao Lin, Robert Aiken, Gerard Kluitenberg, Daniel OBrien

Abstract: The project goal is to provide tools and to document and establish the requirements of developing a real-time Kansas drought assessment and forecasting system in order to improve decision-making activities that affect the economic efficiency and sustainability of the Kansas. Our specific objectives are: 1) To construct an integrated drought-related dataset, suitable for Kansas drought assessment and forecasting; 2) To develop computational tools for computing three drought indices: Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI); and 3) To analyze historic drought episodes, establishing Kansas's benchmark metrics for detecting the onset, duration, severity and frequency of drought