1. What’s on the horizon: future developments in UK national and regional M&EW

2. Situation in March 2012 from the Monthly Hydrological Summary
National Hydrological Monitoring Programme
December 1988 – Present
Places events in a historical context
Uses data holdings of the National River Flow Archive and National Groundwater Level Archive
Focuses on rainfall, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir stocks.
Audience includes: scientists, media, policy makers, water companies, general public
Available for free at
Situation in March 2012 from the
Monthly Hydrological Summary

3. Hydrological Outlooks
Started summer 2013
Uses Met Office, NRFA, NGLA data as current conditions
Wide range of modelling tools used to project flows and groundwater levels over 1 to 3 months (and beyond)
Including use of Met Office Ensemble
Available for free at:

4. What no drought indicators….?
A series of drought indicators used in previous research
 Rank
18-month
24-month
Years
Runoff (mm) 1
1935
179.45
248.12 2
1903
204.68
1992
265 3
214.27
265.68 4
1891
216.45
1945
273.65 5
1922
224.22
302.76 6
227.17
1998
305.4 7
1906
238.52
308.87 8
2012
238.78
319.46 9
246.9
1923
328.04 10
1949
250.63
2006
336.09
Ranked n-month runoff deficiencies
Regional Deficiency Index
Standardized Precipitation Index
Drought Severity Index

5. Hydrological (river flow, groundwater)
What is a drought?
(Yes, this is the “What is a drought” slide....)
Images from the 2010 – 2012 Drought
© Environment Agency
Agricultural (soil moisture)
Environmental
© Guardian
Meteorological
© United Utilities
Hydrological (river flow, groundwater)
Water Resources

6. Standardised Indicators: not universal, but not apples and pears

7. Drought Indicators SPI3 SPI6 SPI12 SSI (streamflow) SGI (groundwater)
Folland et al. HESS Discussions. 2015

8. Drought Indicators for the UK: the drought portal
Launch: March 2015
Gridded SPI for UK at 1km and 5km resolution
Monthly, 1961 – 2012
Tool for mapping and time series visualisation
Free download SPI data (with DOI) on the portal

9. Towards high-res drought M&EW?
Aims of the portal:
High-res monitoring of a wide range of drought indicators
Putting current conditions in historical perspective
Next developments:
5km Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) – May 2015
Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI) for 120 rivers – late summer 2015
Earlier data from pre (Historic Droughts project)
Q: how often will the portal be updated?
A: monthly, from later in 2015

10. Potential for integrating remote sensing products
Future developments
Soil Moisture: COSMOS Network
Potential for integrating remote sensing products

11. What is the portal for....? Please tell us!
We aim to provide regional and local-scale info that is relevant to a wide range of end uses.
But what else should we have in a drought portal?
What space and timescales are useful to you?
What about impacts....?