1. NASA JPL Drought Project Kickoff Meeting
Enhancement of the U.S. Drought Monitor Through the Integration of NASA Vegetation Index Imagery Project and Related Activities at USGS/EROS Jim Verdin and Jesslyn Brown
NASA JPL Drought Project Kickoff Meeting
Lincoln, Nebraska
April 24, 2007

2. Objective
Integration of MODIS VI and derivative products into the U.S. Drought Monitor Decision Support System, and the emerging National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

3. Water Management: National Drought Monitoring System
Earth System Models
Land Surface Models:
Vegetation Drought Response Index
Predictions/Forecasts
Decision Support Systems, Assessments, Management Actions
National Integrated Drought Information System
US Drought Monitor
Weekly map and narrative
NIDIS web portal
Analyses
Early Drought Detection
Drought Spatial Extent
Drought State/Drought Severity
Decisions / Actions
Drought Plans Activated
Urban Water Restrictions
Drought Assistance Programs
Agricultural Choices for Water Conservation
Information products
Vegetation Indices
MODIS NDVI
MODIS NDWI
AVHRR NDVI
Phenological Metrics
Start of Season
Start of Season Anomaly
Seasonal Greenness
Percent of Average SG
Gridded Rainfall Products
Calibrated RADAR
Standardized
Precipitation Index
Value & Benefits
to Society
Quantitative and qualitative benefits from improved decisions
Wider dissemination of drought information
Improved understanding of drought effects at sub-county scale
Quicker response for State Drought Task Forces and State Governors
Increased spatial precision in drought emergency designations
Better informed state and local decision making leading to more effective use of available water and drought relief program resources
Earth Observations
Land Surface Vegetation: MODIS and AVHRR
Precipitation: Weather Station networks, RADAR observations
Land Use/Land Cover: Landsat, MODIS
Observations, Parameters & Products

4. Specific Objectives
Improve USDM resolution from Climate Division to 500m
Provide drought detection and monitoring in gaps between stations
Increase timeliness of VI product availability
Integrate VI and derivative web product delivery into the NIDIS portal
Tailor products and delivery according to feedback from USDM community

5. Desired Outcomes
USDM products supporting county level decision making at USDA, etc
USDM dissemination via NIDIS portal with sub-county drill-down capability
Routine use of NASA VI derived products by USDM authors, land managers, water managers, and drought assistance program administrators

6. MODIS Data Access Issues
Latency, fixed period of DAAC composite products problematic for operational drought monitoring
Collection 4 and Collection 5: non-homogenous time series (participation in January workshop at UMd)
Original plan for use of Direct Broadcast System (DBS)
EROS DBS support discontinued
Move to NOAA EDOS “bent pipe”

7. eMODIS: Enhanced MODIS Processing Service
Product specifications developed to satisfy U.S. monitoring requirements – MOD09 surface reflectances
Recently substituted for MODIS DBS approach
Expedited data delivery: ~24 hours after satellite collection
Daily rolling composite periods
Products served with a conterminous U.S. extent (rather than tiled)
Composite products at 250 m, 500 m, and 1 km
Geotiff product format

8. eMODIS: Enhanced MODIS Processing Service
System status and plans
historical time series (Terra and Aqua MODIS) for baseline establishment (cross calib. with AVHRR)
Currently evaluating composite products
Operational near real-time service to begin in approximately 6-9 months
Plan to fill in 2007 composites retrospectively

9. eMODIS System Composite Example
Prototype Terra MODIS NDVI composite for the period August 2-8, 2006

10. US Satellite Inputs: Updates from eMODIS
Vegetation Indices
Percent of Average Seasonal Greenness
Start of Season Anomaly (and other metrics)
7-day and 28-day change products (e.g., “greener” and “wetter”)
Current
2008
AVHRR NDVI
MODIS NDVI and NDWI
14-day time step
7-day time step (updated daily)
1-km resolution
500 m resolution (250 m resolution)

11. eMODIS: Resolution Improvements
1 km AVHRR NDVI
500 m MODIS NDVI
Kansas
Oklahoma

12. U.S. Rain Day/Dry Day Products
Product suite developed for U.S. drought monitoring
Computed daily based on (~4 km) NOAA/NWS Precipitation Analysis data (
Served from the NDMC ( [weekly update] and USGS Early Warning and Monitoring Program ( [daily update]

13. U.S. Rain Day/Dry Day Products

14. U.S. Rain Day/Dry Day Products

15. MODIS-derived Irrigated Area Map

16. National Irrigated Area Model Inputs
2002 Annual Peak NDVI (250 m resolution)
1992 NLCD (will update to use 2001 NLCD)
2002 USDA Agricultural Census Statistics

17. National Irrigated Area

18. Zimbabwe Maize Harvest Prospects 2007
MODIS NDVI data were used to assess the impact of drought in the central and southern portions of the country
Cultivated Area NDVI
SADC Land Cover
MODIS NDVI

19. Calendar dates are indicative; actual dates vary by district
Zimbabwe MODIS Analysis - National onset-adjusted NDVI curves related to USDA statistics
Calendar dates are indicative; actual dates vary by district

20. end