WebJunction

Key Resources

• The USDA Drought Monitor website http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html is a synthesis of multiple indices, outlooks, and news accounts, which represents a consensus of federal and academic scientists. The major federal partners include participation from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Climate Prediction Center (NOAA/NWS), the National Climatic Data Center (NOAA).
  
  
• The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) http://www.nifc.gov/ located in Boise, Idaho, is a cooperative of eight different agencies and organizations including the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Weather Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Fish and Wildlife Service that work together to reduce the duplication of services, cut costs, and coordinate national fire planning and operations.

Guide to Resources

• Drought is a short word with long consequences. The concept of drought is complex and there are differing points of view on its definition. The National Drought Mitigation Center website http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html has detailed information on the conceptual and operational definitions and they provide disciplinary perspectives on drought.
  
  
• The National Drought Mitigation Center http://drought.unl.edu/ at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln helps people and institutions develop and implement measures to reduce societal vulnerability to drought.
  
  
• The Drought Impact Reporter http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/ was developed by the National Drought Mitigation Center. It includes a database of information from a variety of sources which is used to provide an interactive map which provides drought monitor layers and impact categories for agriculture, water, fire, environment, and social.
  
  
• The North American Drought Monitor http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/monitoring/drought/nadm/index.html is a cooperative effort between drought experts in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Drought effects can be far-reaching and this program is part of a larger effort to improve the monitoring of climate extremes.
  
  
• The Climate Prediction Center (NWS) http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/index.htm provides 6-10 day outlook, 30 day outlook, and other links to weather topics and drought assessment.
  
  
• United States Department of Agriculture http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome has drought assistance information located in the "browse by subject" category. Go to agriculture, then select the related topic of: disaster and drought assistance. This includes crop disaster program facts and links to other topical areas.
  
  
• USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/staterpt.htm Crop Weather for information about crops, Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin, and historical data.
  
  
• United States Geological Survey (USGS) Water Watch http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/ for current water resources conditions. The USGS site also has a map of real-time streamflow.
  
  
• North American Drought: A Paleo perspective is a website http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_home.html which discusses drought from a paleoclimatology (study of past climate) perspective using clues from natural sources such as tree rings, ice cores, and ocean or lake sediments.
  
  
• National Fire News Wildland Fire Update from the National Interagency Fire Center. http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/nfn.htm
  This report will be updated by 9:00 a.m. (mountain) Monday-Friday. Includes statistics and state-by-state summaries.
  
  
• MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program Fire http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/ locations are based on data provided by the National Interagency Fire Center and are subject to change. Select "Imagery" from top menu tab. You can view the latest (usually 1 day behind at most) images of particular states/regions, or you can select other dates and see the progress of fires/fire control.
  
  
• National Fire Maps From the National Interagency Fire Center http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/maps.htm includes maps from current fires and maps from the monthly and seasonal fire outlook. AVHRR Satellite Images and weather service forecast maps are also available.