US drought monitor 101

Webinar registration.

Duration: 1 hour – 35 minute presentation with 25 minutes for questions and answers

As part of a virtual webinar participants will learn about the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), the process behind how it is made and how they can be part of the process. The USDM is a weekly map showing the location and intensity of drought across the U.S. Unlike weather forecast maps that are looking forward in time, the USDM is a “snapshot” and assessment of current conditions up to and including the current week. Each week a pool of 9 lead authors of the map start by reviewing data on precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, streamflow, drought indices, and other indicators of the water cycle to determine areas which may need to be changed. It is not a cookbook or black box process as the map is made manually each week. Utilizing a network of local experts, such as state climatologists and National Weather Service meteorologists who help to interpret how physical conditions are affecting people and places across the country, the authors utilize their expert assessment but also incorporate observations from citizen scientists and crowdsourcing through platforms like CMOR or CoCoRaHS.

During the webinar, you will learn:
• More about the USDM process
• How you can contribute
• How state assessment teams can coordinate input to the USDM authors.