NOAA Drought Seminar Series

Growth in satellite observations and modeling capabilities has transformed drought monitoring by providing near real-time information. However, current monitoring efforts primarily focus on hazards rather than impacts, and they often overlook drought-related compound or cascading hazards such as heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and debris flows. In this presentation, I advocate for impact-based drought monitoring and its integration with broader drought-related hazards. This approach moves beyond top-down hazard information by linking drought to physical or societal impacts, such as crop yield, food availability, energy generation, or unemployment. Despite its potential benefits, the implementation of impact-based drought assessment faces several challenges. These include the lack of consistent drought impact data, limited information on local factors influencing water availability (such as water demand, transfers, and withdrawals), and the disconnect between impact assessment models and existing drought monitoring tools. Finally, I will briefly discuss the concept of anthropogenic drought and how impact-based drought analysis can be strengthened by accounting not only for climatic factors but also for the human dimensions of drought.

Amir AghaKouchak is a Chancellor’s Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. He also serves as Director of UC Irvine’s Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS), where his team develops innovative tools for monitoring and modeling hydrologic extremes. In addition, he is the Lead for Water, Climate, and Infrastructure Risk at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), contributing to global efforts on sustainable water management and climate resilience. His research focuses on natural hazards and climate extremes, bridging the disciplines of hydrology, climatology, and remote sensing. A central theme of his work is the study of interactions among climatic and non-climatic hazards, particularly compound and cascading events. Dr. AghaKouchak has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and has received numerous honors, including the AGU James B. Macelwane Medal, AGU Fellow, AAAS Fellow, ASCE EWRI Fellow, ASCE Norman Medal, Robert E. Horton Lecturer in Hydrology, EGU Plinius Medal, and ASCE Huber Research Prize.