National Drought Monitoring Centre (NDMC), Islamabad is serving the nation as a hub for the collection, consolidation and analysis of drought related data from all possible sources in the country; preparing and disseminating monthly drought bulletins & moisture stresses based on various indices; advising government agencies on drought related matters including drought declaration, and conducting research on drought related issues and development of statistical models for improved drought prediction.
Drought Watch corner displays outlook maps and graphs on following important parameters, at national and regional level as appropriate:
- Drought Monitor
- Precipitation
- Standardized Precipitation Index
- Soil Moisture Outlook
- Rain Percentage Anomaly Change
- Percentage Departure Of Rainfall
- Cumulative Precipitation Anomaly
- Soil Moisture Anomaly
- Water Availability Forecast
- Rainfall Analysis
- Length Of Dry Period
- Drought Hazard Map
- Drought Frequency Map
Few of these data products are being illustrated here:
NDMC leverages Land surface temperature (°C), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index: NDVI) and Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index as powerful satellite driven indices for monitoring Earth’s surface, overcoming limitations associated with traditional weather station data. These indices enhance understanding of environmental processes and improve resilience. The estimates are made available on NDMC website link: https://ndmc.pmd.gov.pk/new/satellite-indices.php
The availability of weekly, monthly, and quarterly drought bulletins issued by the NDMC is also a valuable resource for monitoring and managing drought conditions. These bulletins provide essential information to stakeholders, policymakers, and the public. By offering insights into drought severity, trends, and potential impacts, they contribute to informed decision-making and preparedness efforts. Once you locate the bulletins, you can download them in pdf format.
As we commemorate World Environment Day 2024 with the theme Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience; it is important to acknowledge the existence and contribution of NDMC Pakistan. However, it is suggested to enhance the outreach of multiple drought related products. It is envisaged that provision of spatio-temporal map products and their statistics in user friendly formats (like *.csv, *.jason, *.geotiff, *.shp etc.) is vital. It would help students and researchers to easily integrate diverse interrelated and interdependent geospatial datasets; develop dynamic data driven products and models, holistic drought monitoring and hazard assessment tools, and drought resilience index calculator etc. at local, national, regional and global scales.
Source: https://ndmc.pmd.gov.pk/new/outlooks.php?p=drought-hazard-map