Project Number: 1245-13610-028-06
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Aug 01, 2009
End Date: Jul 31, 2014

Objective:
To bring an existing drought and ET remote sensing model (ALEXI) into operational function within NOAA-NESDIS, and to deliver products to NAA-CPC, the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), and the NIDIS Drought Portal for use in operational drought monitoring within the U.S. and North America.

Approach:
The ALEXI model automated infrastructure will be connected to standard NOAA input products and conformed to run on a computing platform at NESDIS. An archive of model output will be generated for 2000-present over the contiguous U.S., and for 2007-present for a domain covering North America. Monthly anomalies in an Evaporative Stress Index (ESI), ET and soil moisture from the model will be compared with standard drought indices, with soil moisture observations, and with known drought events to ascertain robustness and model sensitivity. After ESI has been evaluated, it will be used to verify drought forecasts generated by CPC for the North American Drought Briefing. ALEXI drought products will be delivered in real-time to CPC and to NDMC for operational monitoring, and they will also be distributed through the U.S. Drought Portal.