thumbnail

Integrating observation and statistical forecasts over sub-Saharan Africa to support Famine Early Warning

By: , and 

Links

  • The Publications Warehouse does not have links to digital versions of this publication at this time
  • Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core

Abstract

Famine early warning in Africa presents unique challenges and rewards. Hydrologic extremes must be tracked and anticipated over complex and changing climate regimes. The successful anticipation and interpretation of hydrologic shocks can initiate effective government response, saving lives and softening the impacts of droughts and floods. While both monitoring and forecast technologies continue to advance, discontinuities between monitoring and forecast systems inhibit effective decision making. Monitoring systems typically rely on high resolution satellite remote-sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and rainfall imagery. Forecast systems provide information on a variety of scales and formats. Non-meteorologists are often unable or unwilling to connect the dots between these disparate sources of information. To mitigate these problem researchers at UCSB's Climate Hazard Group, NASA GIMMS and USGS/EROS are implementing a NASA-funded integrated decision support system that combines the monitoring of precipitation and NDVI with statistical one-to-three month forecasts. We present the monitoring/forecast system, assess its accuracy, and demonstrate its application in food insecure sub-Saharan Africa.

Study Area

Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Integrating observation and statistical forecasts over sub-Saharan Africa to support Famine Early Warning
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher American Meteorological Society
Contributing office(s) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title 87th American Meteorological Society annual meeting
Conference Title 87th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
Conference Location San Antonio, TX
Conference Date Jan 14-18, 2007
Other Geospatial Africa
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details