# Presentation: 722863

## The State of the NIDISA Presentation to: The Third Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) Planting MeetingMarch 14, 2007Roger Pulwarty (NOAA) and Mark Brusberg (USDA)NIDIS Project Implementation Team

## National Integrated Drought Information System

**www.westgov.org/wga/publicat/nidis.pdf**

- (NIDIS)

## As lead agency, NOAA ....

- Established the NOAA **NIDIS Coordination Office**
- Established **NIDIS Implementation Team**
**Coordinated** inter-agency program and sponsored activities
- Considered** USGEO role** -- Coordination of monitoring to leverage existing cross agency, state, local and private sector observations and information delivery

**Notes:**
Establish NIDIS Implementation teams and activities (involving relevant federal and state agencies, National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC: Lincoln, Nebraska), practitioners, etc.)

US Global Earth Observing (USGEO) role -- coordination of observations (including archiving, maintaining, and accessing observed parameters) and monitoring such that NIDIS leverages existing cross agency, state, local and private sector observations and information delivery

## NIDIS as a USGEONear Term Opportunity

**Federal, State, Local, Tribal, Regional**

**NIDIS as a USGEO****Near Term Opportunity**

***NIDIS Business Process Requirements***

- NIDIS Operations Office

**Monitor**

**Observe**

- Analyze

**Inform**

- Risk Reduction Research

- Make Decisions & Take Action

- Plan

- Educate

- Emerging Opportunities

- Predict

- NIDIS NTO Planned Functions

- Physical Science & Socioeconomic Research: Needs and Situation assessments

## Who is doing what? (and how well is it working?)
Established or emerging federal, state, and local innovations (e.g., Drought Monitor, South Carolina, etc.)
What are the gaps in services (products needed / sectors not being served)?
NIDIS Program: What should the governance and management structure look like?
Identify criteria for Pilot selection: Choice, design and implementation
What are the near- and long-term priorities?

*Established or emerging federal, state, and local innovations (*e.g*., Drought Monitor, South Carolina, *etc*.)*
- What are the gaps in services (products needed / sectors not being served)?
- NIDIS Program: What should the governance and management structure look like?
- Identify criteria for Pilot selection: Choice, design and implementation
- What are the near- and long-term priorities?

**Implementation Plan Considerations**

## 
May 11 Washington DC
June 1,2 Lincoln NE
May 31-Jun 3 Santa Fe NM
Sept 21-22 Longmont CO
Nov 14-15 USDA Headquarters
NIDIS Bill 06
February Draft Plan
March 07 Final Implementation Plan

- May 11 Washington DC
- June 1,2 Lincoln NE
- May 31-Jun 3 Santa Fe NM
- Sept 21-22 Longmont CO
- Nov 14-15 USDA Headquarters
**NIDIS Bill 06**
- February Draft Plan
- March 07 **Final Implementation Plan**

**Past Meetings/Future Directions**

-   NOAA Regional Integrated Climate and Water Services
-   Portal prototype and awareness program
-   Workshops for team development in pilot locations
-   National Workshop on the status of drought early warning indicators and
-    triggers

**2007 Activities:**

## The NIDIS Project Office: Structure, implementation teams and governance
National   
Engaging the preparedness communities
Monitoring and forecasting
Education and Outreach
Integrated research for generating drought risk scenarios
The Drought Portal
Regional/State 
DEWS Pilots: Goals, Design, Implementation, Evaluation 

**National**** **
***Engaging the preparedness communities***
***Monitoring and forecasting***
***Education and Outreach***
***Integrated research for generating drought risk scenarios***
***The Drought Portal***
**Regional/State**
***DEWS Pilots: Goals, Design, Implementation, Evaluation**** *

**Implementation Plan Outline**

## NIDIS Governance and Management

**NOAA** Roles and Responsibilities
**Steering Body** Roles and Responsibilities (NOAA, USGS (DoI), Others: Western States Water Council)
**Project Manager** Roles and Responsibilities
**Design Team** Roles and Responsibilities
**Sub-teams** for **pilot implementation and evaluation**

## Types of drought and management units:

**Large watershed, several WGA-relevant basins: e.g. Colorado, **
**Individual States: 2-3 of Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma, down to county level**
**Eastern Watershed: Multi-state flash drought: Chesapeake**
**Underserved or as yet under-represented testing transferability: Mississippi or other**
_**Other**_
**Support from other regions through ‘Coping with Drought’**
**Small supporting grant within pilots**

**Project Team DEWS Pilot Design Recommendations**

## Designing ‘Early Warning’ (Sub)Systems

- National, regional and local levels gaps and product tailoring, benefits of additional (soil moisture, *etc*.) sensors

**  ****Risk assessment sub-system***	*
- Enable resource and other management authorities to generate risk and impact scenarios (*e.g*., triggers in particular settings for EWS)

*What do we need to learn from pilots?*

**Designing ‘Early Warning’ (Sub)Systems**

## Designing ‘Early Warning’ (Sub)Systems

- Outline and inform actions required to reduce the loss and damage expected from an impending hazard event

**  ****Communication sub-system***	*
- Delivery of timely information on impending events, potential risk scenarios and preparedness strategies

**  ****Evaluation and feedback sub-system***	*

*What do we need to learn from pilots?*

**Designing ‘Early Warning’ (Sub)Systems**

## Implementing NIDIS Pilots

**Applications**
**Research**

**Prediction**

**Monitoring**

**Impact****Mitigation **

**Proactive****Planning **

**Improved****Adaptation**

**Engaging research, management and planning communities:**
**Stakeholder defined measures of drought and triggers for decision making**** **

**Integrating Tools:****e.g. Drought Portal**

**Implementing NIDIS Pilots**

**Engaging the preparedness communities**

## Implementing NIDIS Pilots

**Applications**
**Research**

**Prediction**

**Monitoring**

**Impact****Mitigation **

**Proactive****Planning **

**Improved****Adaptation**

**Engaging the preparedness communities**

**Integrating Tools:****e.g. Drought Portal**

**Implementing NIDIS Pilots**

- Identifying and diffusing innovative strategies for drought risk assessment, communication and preparedness

**Engaging research, management and planning communities:**
**Stakeholder defined measures of drought and triggers for decision making**** **

- Coordinating federal, state, and local drought-related activities (*e.g.,* within watersheds and states)

## Education and Outreach
U.S. Drought Portal Concept (USDP)
Integrating physical and social science research for risk assessment
Engaging the preparedness communities
Coordinating existing data networks (gap identification (e.g., density, frequency) and forecasts (May 2005)

*Evolving the ‘Strategy’ into a ‘Plan’*

- Education and Outreach
- U.S. Drought Portal Concept (USDP)
- Integrating physical and social science research for risk assessment
- Engaging the preparedness communities
- Coordinating existing data networks (gap identification (*e.g.,* density, frequency) and forecasts (May 2005)

## Near Term Objectives

**Near-Term Product Goals**: Provide integrated products / maps of current conditions, outlooks, and impacts at higher resolution.
-     Develop an Internet Drought Portal to facilitate deliver and access to information, products and services.
- 	Coordinate drought preparedness plans and prototype Drought “Early Warning System”.
- 	**Increased engagement with the research community.**

## Selected “research needs” in NIDIS:
“Developing methodologies to integrate data on climate, hydrology, water: short-term vs. long term drought
Identifying regional differences in drought impacts and related information needs and delivery systems Develop regionally specific drought monitoring and forecasts

- “Developing methodologies to **integrate data** on climate, hydrology, water: short-term vs. long term drought
- Identifying **regional differences in drought impacts** and related information needs and delivery systems Develop regionally specific drought monitoring and forecasts

**NIDIS Research Priorities**

**Notes:**
Climate Program Office includes suite of research under Climate and Global Change:  CLIVAR, GAPPS-PACS, etc. provides the basis for broad-based earth science research on drought

## Drought indicators based on available preliminary data differ greatly from final data in some areas.

**Challenges:****Real-Time Data Availability**

## Challenges:Data Over Diverse Time Scales

- Droughts span an enormous range of time scales, from short-term “flash droughts” that can have major agricultural impacts to multi-year or even decadal droughts (1930s, 1950s, etc.)  Paleoclimate evidence suggests that in the last 1000 years parts of the U.S. have experienced “mega-droughts” that persisted for decades.

**Droughts**

** ****Other climate modes**

**Challenges:****Data Over Diverse Time Scales**

## Looking Ahead

**FY07-08**: Enhance observations, data management and distribution, and drought predictions and impacts research.  Assess national status of drought early warning.
**FY 09-13:** Implement pilot studies on several scales (watershed, state, region, county) and across time scales (seasonal to decadal and longer).  Enhance regional impacts research and improve resolution of predictions.

## Questions?

**Questions?**