A Comparison of Satellite Data-Based Drought Indicators in Detecting the 2012 Drought in the Southeastern US

Yagci, Ali Levent ; Santanello, Joseph A ; Rodell, Matthew ; Deng, Meixia ; Di, Liping

关键词: CLIMATE;    DROUGHT;    IMAGING SPECTROMETERS;    MODIS (RADIOMETRY);    SURFACE PROPERTIES;    VEGETATION;    APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (NORTH AMERICA);    GROUND WATER;    MOUNTAINS;    VALLEYS;   

RP-ID  :  GSFC-E-DAA-TN42302

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

The drought of 2012 in the North America devastated agricultural crops and pastures, further damaging agriculture and livestock industries and leading to great losses in the economy. The drought maps of the United States Drought Monitor (USDM) and various drought monitoring techniques based on the data collected by the satellites orbiting in space such as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are inter-compared during the 2012 drought conditions in the southeastern United States. The results indicated that spatial extent of drought reported by USDM were in general agreement with those reported by the MODIS-based drought maps. GRACE-based drought maps suggested that the southeastern US experienced widespread decline in surface and root-zone soil moisture and groundwater resources. Disagreements among all drought indicators were observed over irrigated areas, especially in Lower Mississippi region where agriculture is mainly irrigated. Besides, we demonstrated that time lag of vegetation response to changes in soil moisture and groundwater partly contributed to these disagreements, as well.