1. 1 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center ESIP Federation Winter Meeting 2009 Washington, DC The NIDIS U.S. Drought Portal: An Update www.drought.gov Mike Brewer, Jason Symonds

2. 2 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Increased vulnerability Society is changing - increasing urbanization, aging populations, overdevelopment in coastal regions, and regions with limited water supply Societal Challenges and Climate

3. 3 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center NIDIS: An integrated, interagency national drought monitoring and forecasting system that provides: An early warning & forecast system for drought. Drought impact and causation education. Information for drought mitigation. An interactive, web-based drought portal. Improved observational capabilities. NIDIS Builds Upon Collaborative Successes! What is NIDIS?

4. 4 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center NIDIS Authority “(We) contend that we can reduce this nation’s vulnerability to the impacts of drought by making preparedness— especially drought planning, plan implementation, and proactive mitigation— the cornerstone of national drought policy..” — National Drought Policy Commission Report, May 2000 “NIDIS should improve and expand the compilation of reliable data on the various indicators of droughts, and it should integrate and interpret that data with easily accessible and understandable tools, which provide timely and useful information to decision-makers and the general public. Western Governors believe NOAA should be designated as the federal lead for NIDIS. — Western Governor’s Association Report, June 2004 “Characteristics of disaster-resilient communities:  Relevant hazards are recognized and understood.  Communities at risk know when a hazard event is imminent.  Individuals at risk are safe from hazards in their homes and places of work.  Communities experience minimum disruption … after a hazard event has passed.” — National Science and Technology Council, June 2005 “Near-term opportunities identify observing systems or integration of components that meet high priority societal needs, and make improvements to inadequate existing systems that can be completed within 5 years and have tangible, measurable results.  Improved Observations for Disaster Warnings  Global Land Observation System  Sea Level Observation System  National Integrated Drought Information System — U.S. Group on Earth Observations, September 2006  Air Quality Assessment and Forecast System  Architecture and Data Management.”

5. 5 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center How Can Drought Information Be Delivered Effectively? One-stop shop for up-to-date drought information. Predictive services for the wildland-urban interface. Better demand data. Data at the county level- Climate Divisions are not good enough. Reliant on data from multiple agencies in real time. Situational awareness Clearinghouse for information – don’t abandon links!

6. 6 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Previous U.S. Drought Portal (drought.gov)

7. 7 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Current U.S. Drought Portal – December 08 Release

8. 8 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – New Information OGC compliant Web Mapping Services for specific products. Customization based on a subset of full Map Viewer functionality

9. 9 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – New Information Taking advantage of existing services including Google Gadgets. Customizable USDM statistics for various spatial and time scales.

10. 10 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – Old Navigation Persistent Navigation - Drop down menus Links to information

11. 11 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – New Navigation Persistent Navigation – No drop down menus Links to information Floating Column Width

12. 12 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – New Map Viewer

13. 13 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – New Map Viewer Navigation

14. 14 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center U.S. Drought Portal – Education

15. 15 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Immediate future development in the USDP will be aimed at: Spinning up regional pilot activities and regional depiction of drought Working with GEO to begin addressing global and international drought monitoring and forecasting Moving Forward: Scales What tools are currently in place that we can leverage in the SE US and the upper Colorado Basin for purposes of mitigation of impacts and adaptation? Are tools applicable to local/regional level or are they transferable nationwide? Who are the key local/regional players? What else have we missed?

16. 16 NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Contact NIDIS.Questions@noaa.gov