Annual progress report of the European and global drought observatories

This report gives a comprehensive overview of the new functions in the European and Global Observatories (EDO and GDO) that were created in 2019. This report completes the user documentation of the systems and is to be used in conjunction with the previous reports presented since 2010.

The sectorial indices tested, concern droughts in wetlands, water security during drought events for big cities, water intake limitations for industrial activities during droughts and a low flow index at world level in addition to the low flow index for Europe. In brief, drought is becoming, in reaction to society’s hesitation to react on the Climate Heating drama, more and more a political tense topic, putting this work in the centre of attention together with the results of  colleagues of forest fire alerts.

A copy of the system is developed using Open Source technology, making it ready to be exploited by regional meteorological agencies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, this in addition to the version already functioning in Ecuador. The project making this possible baptized Mukau, the name in some local Kenyan languages of Melia volkensii, a plant adapted to dry climates and native to East Africa.

This project, financed by DG DEVCO, will allow for matching up more with African counterparts thus enabling to give more accurate information during events in exchange of sharing these technologies with counterparts in the more drought stroked parts of the planet.