A Workshop on Using NASA AIRS Data to Monitor Drought for the U.S. Drought Monitor

Authors

Alireza Farahmand,, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
Sharon Ray, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Heidar Thrastarson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Stephen Licata, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Stephanie Granger, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Brian Fuchs, National Drought Mitigation CenterFollow

Date of this Version

2023

Citation

Bulletin of the AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, JANUARY 2023, E22-E30

Comments

Copyright © 2023 American Meteorological Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that drought indicators based on near-surface air relative humidity (RH), air temperature (T), and air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), derived from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite can detect the onset of drought earlier than other drought indicators, specifically standardized precipitation index (SPI), which is widely used for drought onset detection. A recent study showed that standardized relative humidity index (SRHI) can detect drought signals earlier than SPI (Farahmand et al. 2015). Relative humidity is a climate variable defined as the ratio of air vapor pressure to saturated vapor pressure. Precipitation and relative humidity are related to each other in the sense that significant precipitation is not expected at low relative humidity. SRHI detected drought onset earlier or at the same time as SPI with a global average of approximately 0.6 (i.e., 60% of all events) and the mean lead time of 1.9 months. Also, SRHI successfully detected the early signs of the 2012 Midwestern drought, the 2011 Texas drought, and the 2010 Russian drought (Farahmand et al. 2015). In another study, standardized vapor pressure deficit (SVPD) and standardized temperature (ST) indicators from the AIRS mission have been shown to detect drought earlier or at the same time as SPI with an average lead time of 1.5 months and in 60% of events in the CONUS (Behrangi et al. 2016). VPD is an important climate variable, incorporating elements of both temperature and relative humidity. VPD is also a major controlling factor of evapotranspiration demand. With increasing air aridity, VPD increases which in turn indicates greater evaporation stress. Studies show that VPD reported increases during the formation and rapid intensification of drought conditions during the 2011 and 2012 drought events, suggesting that remotely sensed VPD holds considerable potential for drought early warning and assessment (Behrangi et al. 2015; Farahmand et al. 2021).