Melissa Widhalm

The Lincoln Declaration on Drought Indices: Universal Meteorological Drought Index Recommended

What: Fifty-four participants from 22 countries, including drought experts from each of the six WMO regions, met to discuss the development of standards for drought indices and guidelines for drought early warning systems WheN: 8–11 December 2009 Where: Lincoln, Nebraska spoNsors: WMO; National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the School of Natural Resources (SNR), both at the University of Nebraska– Lincoln; NOAA/National Integrated Drought Information System; U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Secretariat I mproved drought monitoring and early warning systems are urgently needed to cope with current and potentially changing drought patterns as we move into the future. Drought is a slow-moving natural hazard that can affect virtually all climatic regimes. Generally defined, drought is a deficiency of precipitation relative to what is expected (i.e., “normal”) that, when extended over a season or a longer period of time, results in the inability to meet the demands of human activities and the environment. As countries around the world begin to establish national drought strategies, one critical component should be the development of a comprehensive drought monitoring system that has the ability to provide an early warning of the drought’s onset, determine drought severity and spatial extent, and convey that information to decision-making groups in a timely manner. This information can then be used to either reduce or avoid the impacts of drought. With this in mind, drought experts from nearly two dozen nations,1 including from all six regions of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), were brought together for the Inter-Regional Workshop on Indices and Early Warning Systems for Drought, which was a four-day workshop focused on developing standards for drought indices and guidelines for drought early warning systems (DEWS). The motivation behind this workshop came out of the primary recommendations from the February 2009 International Workshop on Drought and Extreme Temperatures in Beijing, China, where one of the main recommendations was for the WMO to identify AFFILIATIONS: hayes, svoboda, Wall, aNd WidhalM—National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Nicole Wall, 819 Hardin Hall, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska– Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583 E-mail: nwall2@unl.edu

Climate forecasts for corn producer decision making

AbstractCorn is the most widely grown crop in the Americas, with annual production in the United States of approximately 332 million metric tons. Improved climate forecasts, together with climate-related decision tools for corn producers based on these improved forecasts, could substantially reduce uncertainty and increase profitability for corn producers. The purpose of this paper is to acquaint climate information developers, climate information users, and climate researchers with an overview of weather conditions throughout the year that affect corn production as well as forecast content and timing needed by producers. The authors provide a graphic depicting the climate-informed decision cycle, which they call the climate forecast–decision cycle calendar for corn.

Provision of Climate Services for Agriculture: Public and Private Pathways to Farm Decision-making

CapsuleIn a U.S. Corn Belt study, we found that agricultural advisors are engaged and critical users of climate information, while gaps remain in providing salient climate information to farmers.