HR: 11:20h
AN: H32B-05    [Abstracts]
TI: The Drought Impact Reporter: A Web-Based National Drought Impacts Reporting Tool
AU: * Hayes, M J
EM: mhayes2@unl.edu
AF: National Drought Mitigation Center, 246 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749 United States
AU: Svoboda, M
EM: msvoboda2@unl.edu
AF: National Drought Mitigation Center, 246 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749 United States
AU: Higgins, M
EM: mhiggins2@unl.edu
AF: National Drought Mitigation Center, 246 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749 United States
AU: Wilhite, D
EM: dwilhite2@unl.edu
AF: National Drought Mitigation Center, 246 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749 United States
AU: Wood, D
EM: dwood1@unl.edu
AF: National Drought Mitigation Center, 246 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749 United States
AB: Although drought is a major natural hazard worldwide, very few quantitative assessments and economic estimates of drought impacts have been done. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimated in 1995 that droughts in the United States cause an average annual economic loss of $6-8 billion (FEMA 1995). This number is a very rough estimate. Overall, estimates of the economic losses associated with drought are extremely incomplete at local, regional, and national scales and also by sector. In addition, many of the impacts associated with drought are social and environmental, and they are difficult to quantify. Although the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) receives numerous requests each year for information on the magnitude of drought impacts for current or historical events, no systematic, standardized data collection effort exists in the United States. For this reason, the NDMC is establishing a methodology and reporting/dissemination tool under an overarching National Drought Impact Reporting Strategy (NDIRS). This tool, the Drought Impact Reporter, consists of a web-based package of products and interactive features that is also designed to assimilate user-supplied information, giving decision makers at all levels the ability to report or assess the impacts due to drought in near real-time down to the county level. An archival database is also being built and maintained, allowing for queries based on location, time, and impact category. The ultimate goal of this NDIRS effort is to develop methodologies that are comprehensive and consistent in quantifying the economic losses associated with drought, as well as social and environmental impacts at all levels.
UR: http://droughtreporter.unl.edu
DE: 1640 Remote sensing (1855)
DE: 1812 Drought
DE: 1833 Hydroclimatology
DE: 1869 Stochastic hydrology
DE: 3309 Climatology (1616, 1620, 3305, 4215, 8408)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005