Oh Me! Oh My! These Rice Paddies are Dry!

EarthzineMonitoring Drought

Category: Monitoring Drought
Project Team: Mekong River Basin Agriculture
Team Location: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center – Huntsville, Alabama

Precipitation, land surface temperature, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index are used to create the Scaled Drought Condition Index. Image Credit: Mekong River Basin Agriculture Team

Precipitation, land surface temperature, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index are used to create the Scaled Drought Condition Index. Image Credit: Mekong River Basin Agriculture Team

Authors:
Daryl Ann Winstead
Waritchana Rakumthong
Pumichat Raksaphaeng
Allison Daniel

Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. Jeffrey Luvall (NASA at National Space Science Technology Center)
Dr. Robert Griffin (University of Alabama in Huntsville)
Eric Anderson (University of Alabama in Huntsville)

Past/Other Contributors:
Leigh Sinclair (Center Lead)
Daryl Ann Winstead (Center Lead)
Sean McCartney
Nobphadon Suksangpanya
Chisaphat Supunyachotsakul
Srisunee Wuthiwongyothin
Sahakait Benyasut
Thanapat Vichienlux
Timothy Klug
Arom Boekfah
Chayanit Choomwattana
Komsan Rattanakijsuntorn
Watanyoo Suksa-ngiam
Atipat Wattanuntachai

Abstract:

The Mekong River Basin region is one of the world’s largest contributors in the global rice production market with rice paddies on more than 10 million hectares of land. The production of these crops contributes significantly to the local economies and workforce within this region. The Mekong River Basin experiences seasonal flooding, as well as periods of drought, which affect the rice yield. The majority of the rice fields in the Mekong River Basin rely on rainwater for irrigation rather than using groundwater, which can be problematic during extended periods of drought. The NASA SERVIR Coordination Office located at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has partnered with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) through the SERVIR Mekong Hub to improve on climate resilience in the Mekong River Basin region. This project focused on applying the Scaled Drought Condition Index (SDCI), an index used for agricultural drought, throughout Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia in the Mekong River Basin. This index was created by using precipitation data from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), land surface temperature from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from MODIS. The SDCI was used in creating a time series and compiling a near real-time monitoring tool that aided in mitigation efforts against prolonged drought in the Mekong River Basin.

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