NIDIS Funds Nine Projects to Advance Drought Assessment

The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program in the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Climate Program Office has awarded funding for nine new research projects to improve drought assessment. These projects support NOAA’s mission by advancing our scientific understanding of drought and partnerships that help turn scientific understanding into long-term drought resilience.  

The projects, funded through the Coping with Drought research competition, will improve drought indicators and assessment in order to support more informed and timely decisions, thereby leading to reduced impacts and cost as mandated by the NIDIS’s Public Law (P.L. 115-423, P.L. 109-430, P.L. 113-86).

This funding will be distributed to 15 institutions across 14 states in the Southeast, Southern Plains, Midwest, West, Northeast, and the U.S. Pacific Islands. These awards will enable state and local governments to better understand, plan for, and ultimately address the needs of their citizens through risk-informed decisions to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of drought. 

This funding competition focuses on applied research to improve drought indicator performance to account for fluctuations and changes in drought, with the goal of more accurate drought assessments. More accurate drought assessments will result in better decisions and reduced drought risk across sectors of the U.S. economy. The outcomes of these projects will help reduce drought’s economic impacts to agriculture, water resource management, natural resource management, hydropower, forestry, electric and public water utilities, recreation, tourism and hospitality, and emergency management.