Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Examining Rapid Onset Drought Development Using the Thermal Infrared–Based Evaporative Stress Index

Jason A. Otkin * Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

Search for other papers by Jason A. Otkin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Martha C. Anderson Agricultural Research Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland

Search for other papers by Martha C. Anderson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Christopher Hain Earth System Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland

Search for other papers by Christopher Hain in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Iliana E. Mladenova Agricultural Research Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland

Search for other papers by Iliana E. Mladenova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Jeffrey B. Basara School of Meteorology, and Oklahoma Climatological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

Search for other papers by Jeffrey B. Basara in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Mark Svoboda National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Search for other papers by Mark Svoboda in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Aug 2013
Collections:
Advancing Drought Monitoring and Prediction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-12-0144.1
Page(s):
1057–1074
Restricted access

Abstract

Reliable indicators of rapid drought onset can help to improve the effectiveness of drought early warning systems. In this study, the evaporative stress index (ESI), which uses remotely sensed thermal infrared imagery to estimate evapotranspiration (ET), is compared to drought classifications in the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and standard precipitation-based drought indicators for several cases of rapid drought development that have occurred across the United States in recent years. Analysis of meteorological time series from the North American Regional Reanalysis indicates that these events are typically characterized by warm air temperature and low cloud cover anomalies, often with high winds and dewpoint depressions that serve to hasten evaporative depletion of soil moisture reserves. Standardized change anomalies depicting the rate at which various multiweek ESI composites changed over different time intervals are computed to more easily identify areas experiencing rapid changes in ET. Overall, the results demonstrate that ESI change anomalies can provide early warning of incipient drought impacts on agricultural systems, as indicated in crop condition reports collected by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. In each case examined, large negative change anomalies indicative of rapidly drying conditions were either coincident with the introduction of drought in the USDM or lead the USDM drought depiction by several weeks, depending on which ESI composite and time-differencing interval was used. Incorporation of the ESI as a data layer used in the construction of the USDM may improve timely depictions of moisture conditions and vegetation stress associated with flash drought events.

Corresponding author address: Jason A. Otkin, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: jason.otkin@ssec.wisc.edu

This article is included in the Advancing Drought Monitoring and Prediction Special Collection.

Abstract

Reliable indicators of rapid drought onset can help to improve the effectiveness of drought early warning systems. In this study, the evaporative stress index (ESI), which uses remotely sensed thermal infrared imagery to estimate evapotranspiration (ET), is compared to drought classifications in the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and standard precipitation-based drought indicators for several cases of rapid drought development that have occurred across the United States in recent years. Analysis of meteorological time series from the North American Regional Reanalysis indicates that these events are typically characterized by warm air temperature and low cloud cover anomalies, often with high winds and dewpoint depressions that serve to hasten evaporative depletion of soil moisture reserves. Standardized change anomalies depicting the rate at which various multiweek ESI composites changed over different time intervals are computed to more easily identify areas experiencing rapid changes in ET. Overall, the results demonstrate that ESI change anomalies can provide early warning of incipient drought impacts on agricultural systems, as indicated in crop condition reports collected by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. In each case examined, large negative change anomalies indicative of rapidly drying conditions were either coincident with the introduction of drought in the USDM or lead the USDM drought depiction by several weeks, depending on which ESI composite and time-differencing interval was used. Incorporation of the ESI as a data layer used in the construction of the USDM may improve timely depictions of moisture conditions and vegetation stress associated with flash drought events.

Corresponding author address: Jason A. Otkin, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: jason.otkin@ssec.wisc.edu

This article is included in the Advancing Drought Monitoring and Prediction Special Collection.

Save
Cover Journal of Hydrometeorology
Journal of Hydrometeorology

  • Allen, R. G., Pereira L. S. , Raes D. , and Smith M. , 1998: Crop evapotranspiration: Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, FAO, Rome, 328 pp.

  • Anderson, M. C., Norman J. M. , Diak G. R. , Kustas W. P. , and Mecikalski J. R. , 1997: A two-source time-integrated model for estimating surface fluxes using thermal infrared remote sensing. Remote Sens. Environ., 60, 195–216.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., Kustas W. P. , and Norman J. M. , 2007a: Upscaling flux observations from local to continental scales using thermal remote sensing. Agron. J., 99, 240–254.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., Norman J. M. , Mecikalski J. R. , Otkin J. A. , and Kustas W. P. , 2007b: A climatological study of evapotranspiration and moisture stress across the continental United States based on thermal remote sensing: 1. Model formulation. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10117, doi:10.1029/2006JD007506.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., Norman J. M. , Mecikalski J. R. , Otkin J. A. , and Kustas W. P. , 2007c: A climatological study of evapotranspiration and moisture stress across the continental United States based on thermal remote sensing: 2. Surface moisture climatology. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D11112, doi:10.1029/2006JD007507.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., Hain C. , Wardlow B. , Pimstein A. , Mecikalski J. R. , and Kustas W. P. , 2011: Evaluation of drought indices based on thermal remote sensing and evapotranspiration over the continental United States. J. Climate, 24, 2025–2044.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., and Coauthors, 2012: Mapping daily evapotranspiration at Landsat spatial scales during the BEAREX'08 field campaign. Adv. Water Resour., 50, 162–177.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, M. C., Kustas W. P. , Otkin J. A. , Zhan X. , Mo K. , Svoboda M. , Wardlow B. , and Pimstein A. , 2013: An intercomparison of drought indicators based on thermal remote sensing and NLDAS simulations. J. Hydrometeor., in press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Barnabás, B., Jäger K. , and Fehér A. , 2008: The effect of drought and heat stress on reproductive processes in cereals. Plant Cell Environ., 31, 11–38.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brown, J. F., Wardlow B. D. , Tadesse T. , Hayes M. J. , and Reed B. C. , 2008: The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A new integrated approach for monitoring drought stress in vegetation. GISci. Remote Sens., 45, 16–46.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ciais, P., and Coauthors, 2005: Europe-wide reduction in primary productivity caused by heat and drought in 2003. Nature, 437, 529–533.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Higgins, R. W., Shi W. , Yarosh E. , and Joyce R. , 2000: Improved United States precipitation quality control system and analysis. NCEP/Climate Prediction Center ATLAS 7, Camp Springs, MD, 40 pp.

  • Hovmöller, E., 1949: The trough-and-ridge diagram. Tellus, 1, 62–66.

  • Hu, A., and Willson G. D. , 2000: Effects of temperature anomalies on the Palmer Drought Severity Index in the central United States. Int. J. Climatol., 20, 1899–1911.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jiang, Y., and Huang B. , 2001: Drought and heat stress injury to two cool season turf grasses in relation to antioxidant metabolism and lipid peroxidation. Crop Sci., 41, 436–442.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Karl, T. R., 1986: The sensitivity of the Palmer Drought Severity Index and Palmer's Z-Index to their calibration coefficients including potential evapotranspiration. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 25, 77–86.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kebede, H., Fisher D. K. , and Young L. D. , 2012: Determination of moisture deficit and heat stress tolerance in corn using physiological measurements and a low-cost microcontroller-based monitoring system. J. Agron. Crop Sci., 198, 118–129.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kogan, F. N., 1997: Global drought watch from space. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78, 621–636.

  • Li, Y. P., Ye W. , Wang M. , and Yan X. D. , 2009: Climate change and drought: A risk assessment of crop-yield impacts. Climate Res., 39, 31–46.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McKee, T. B., Doesken N. J. , and Kleist J. , 1993: The relationship of drought frequency and duration to time scale. Preprints, Eighth Conf. on Applied Climatology, Boston, MA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 179–184.

  • McKee, T. B., Doesken N. J. , and Kleist J. , 1995: Drought monitoring with multiple time scales. Preprints, Ninth Conf. on Applied Climatology, Anaheim, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 233–236.

  • McNaughton, K. G., and Spriggs T. W. , 1986: A mixed-layer model for regional evaporation. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 74, 262–288.

  • Mecikalski, J. M., Diak G. R. , Anderson M. C. , and Norman J. M. , 1999: Estimating fluxes on continental scales using remotely sensed data in an atmospheric–land exchange model. J. Appl. Meteor., 38, 1352–1369.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mesinger, F., and Coauthors, 2006: North American Regional Reanalysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 87, 343–360.

  • Mishra, V., and Cherkauer K. , 2010: Retrospective droughts in the crop growing season: Implications to corn and soybean yield in the Midwestern United States. Agric. For. Meteor., 150, 1030–1045.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mittler, R., 2006: Abiotic stress, the field environment and stress combination. Trends Plant Sci., 11, 15–19.

  • Mkhabela, M., Bullock P. , Gervais M. , Finlay G. , and Sapirstein H. , 2010: Assessing indicators of agricultural drought impacts on spring wheat yield and quality on the Canadian prairies. Agric. For. Meteor., 150, 399–410.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Moran, M. S., 2003: Thermal infrared measurement as an indicator of plant ecosystem health. Thermal Remote Sensing in Land Surface Processes, D. A. Quattrochi and J. Luvall, Eds., Taylor and Francis, 257–282.

  • Mozny, M., Trnka M. , Zalud Z. , Hlavinka P. , Nekovar J. , Potop V. , and Virag M. , 2012: Use of a soil moisture network for drought monitoring in the Czech Republic. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 107, 99–111.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Myneni, R. B., and Coauthors, 2002: Global products of vegetation leaf area and fraction absorbed by PAR from year of MODIS data. Remote Sens. Environ., 83, 214–231.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Norman, J. M., Kustas W. P. , and Humes K. S. , 1995: A two-source approach for estimating soil and vegetation energy fluxes from observations of directional radiometric surface temperature. Agric. For. Meteor., 77, 263–292.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Otkin, J. A., Anderson M. C. , Mecikalski J. R. , and Diak G. R. , 2005: Validation of GOES-based insolation estimates using data from the United States Climate Reference Network. J. Hydrometeor., 6, 460–475.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Palmer, W. C., 1965: Meteorological drought. U.S. Weather Bureau Research Paper 45, NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, 58 pp.

  • Pradhan, G. P., Prasad P. V. V. , Fritz A. K. , Kirkham M. B. , and Gill B. S. , 2012: Response of Aegilops species to drought stress during reproductive stages of development. Funct. Plant Biol., 39, 51–59.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Prasad, P. V. V., Pisipati S. R. , Momcilivic I. , and Ristic Z. , 2011: Independent and combined effects of high temperature and drought stress during grain filling on plant yield and chloroplast EF-Tu expression in spring wheat. J. Agron. Crop Sci., 197, 430–441.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rizhsky, L., Liang H. , and Mittler R. , 2002: The combined effect of drought stress and heat shock on gene expression in tobacco. Plant Physiol., 130, 1143–1151.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rötter, R., and van de Geijn S. C. , 1999: Climate change effects on plant growth, crop yield, and livestock. Climate Change, 43, 651–681.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Saini, H. S., and Westgate M. E. , 1999: Reproductive development in grain crops during drought. Adv. Agron., 68, 59–96.

  • Svoboda, M., and Coauthors, 2002: The drought monitor. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 1181–1190.

  • Swain, S., Wardlow B. D. , Narumalani S. , Tadesse T. , and Callahan K. , 2011: Assessment of vegetation response to drought in Nebraska using Terra–MODIS land surface temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. GISci. Remote Sens., 48, 432–455.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • USDA, 2007: Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin. Vol. 94, No. 22, USDA, Washington, DC, 32 pp. [Available online at http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/waob/weather_weekly//2000s/2007/weather_weekly-05-31-2007.pdf.]

  • Xia, Y., Ek M. B. , Wei H. , and Meng J. , 2012a: Comparative analysis of relationships between NLDAS-2 forcings and model outputs. Hydrol. Processes, 26, 467–474.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Xia, Y., and Coauthors, 2012b: Continental-scale water and energy flux analysis and validation of the North American Land Data Assimilation System project phase 2 (NLDAS-2): 1. Intercomparison and application of model products. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D03109, doi:10.1029/2011JD016048.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1075 0 0
Full Text Views 11750 3433 156
PDF Downloads 1914 574 47