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Geospatial Decision Support for Drought Risk Management

Published by:
Online Location
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/602421.602442
Publication date
22/01/2003
Number of Pages
3
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Articles & Journals
Focus Region:
North America
Focus Topic:
Climate / Weather / Environment
Type of Risk:
Natural disasters
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk reduction/mitigation
Risk coping
Commodity:
Crops
Author
Steve Goddard, Sherri K. Harms, Stephen E. Reichenbach, Tsegaye Tadesse, William J. Waltman
Organization
University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Drought affects virtually all regions of the world and results in significant economic, social, and environmental impacts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates annual drought-related losses in the United States at $6-8 billion, which is more than any other natural hazard. Congress enacted the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 to encourage the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) and farmers to be more proactive in managing drought risk. Through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Digital Government program, the USDA RMA is working with the University of Nebraska−Lincoln Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department, National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), and High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) to develop new geospatial decision support tools to address agricultural drought hazards and identify regions of vulnerability in the management of drought risk. The goal of this research project is to develop a support system of geospatial analyses that will enhance drought risk assessment and exposure analysis. The tools and technologies developed have been integrated into the National Agricultural Decision Support System (NADSS), http://nadss.unl.edu/ .