Climate Engine uses Google’s Earth Engine to process satellite and climate data on demand to visualize value and anomaly mapping, as well as time series and statistical summaries of datasets. This allows users to analyze and interact with climate and earth observations for decision support related to drought, water use, agriculture, wildfire, and ecology.

The Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) seeks to strengthen agricultural drought monitoring and early warning globally. GIEWS uses remote sensing to estimate precipitation and to monitor the following, both globally and for individual countries: Agricultural Stress Index; drought intensity; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) anomalies; Vegetation Condition Index; and Vegetation Health Index. A country-level Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS) tool has been incorporated into GIEWS to support country-level monitoring and management of agricultural drought, providing more precise information on drought stress to crops. The tool will be expanded to more countries in the future.

The MapViewer of the Global Drought Observatory (GDO), hosted by the European Commission, generates global maps of monthly precipitation, mean annual precipitation, SPI, soil moisture anomaly, and NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Total Water Storage anomaly. The site also supports mapping of fire danger from the Global Wildfire Information System; information from the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (see below for more information); the Wetlands drought index from Ramsar; and an up-to-date “Risk of Drought Impact for Agriculture” by country. The GDO MapViewer supports comparison of monthly or 10-day period maps.

The ClimatView tool enables viewing and downloading of global or continental-scale maps of monthly world climate data, including temperature and precipitation and related anomalies, normals, and 3-, 6-, and 12-month SPI. ClimatView is produced by the Japan Meteorological Agency with input from the World Meteorological Organization members around the world.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) provides monthly reports and maps for approximately 30 countries detailing current and projected food insecurity in order to inform planning and humanitarian response. Created and managed by the United States Agency for International Development, FEWS NET examines the performance of rainfall (onset, totals, distribution, cessation) at various points in the year, together with forecasts, and develops scenarios of food security projections.

GDACS provides a map of disaster alerts—including drought—worldwide to improve alerts, information exchange and coordination for disasters. This is produced as a cooperative framework between the United Nations, the European Commission, and disaster managers worldwide.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs provides information services via ReliefWeb on severe disasters—including drought and heat waves—in highly vulnerable countries. The goal is to help humanitarian workers and decision makers make informed decisions to mobilize to address disasters. ReliefWeb monitors and collates information from several sources, including humanitarian agencies at international and local levels, governments, research institutions, and the media.