Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS

NET)

Venkatesh Merwade

Kristi Shaw

FEWS NET

US government partnership to improve food security in 17 drought prone countries in AfricaObjective: establish effective, sustainable, and African led security and response planning networks to decrease vulnerability of at risk groupsPartners with USGS, USAID, Chemonics, Foreign Agriculture Service, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

FEWS NET Website (http://www.fews.net/)

Monthly reports publicly available Technical reports including vulnerability assessments, food insecurity, and World Food Program (WFP) reportsWeather monitoring using remote sensing (for warning and hazard analysis)Price monitoring (food access, commercial price changes, supply/demands)Assimilates daily rainfall images (NOAA)Databases on remote sensing, rainfall (RAINMAN), agriculture production (AGMAN), and market prices (PRICEMAN) through a branch of FEWS NET,the Africa Data Dissemination Service (ADDS)Mozambique Flood Hazard Information (http://edcnts11.cr.usgs.gov/mozflooding/)

Mozambique Flood Hazard

Information Interactive Basin Excess Rainfall Maps (delineate above avg. rainfall regions)Stream Flow Model Dynamic Map and Hydrographs

Developed by USGS Earth Resources Observation Systems Data System (EROS)Simulates stream flow for 3000 basinsPhysically-based catchment hydrological model includes GIS module for input/data preparation and rainfall-runoff simulation models Under development…output will be hydrographs, dynamic basin maps, and publicly available direct access to a map service that updates flood risk maps to improve user functionality

Flood Risk Monitoring Model and Hydrographs

FEWS Flood Risk Monitoring Model

Introduction and Brief Description

of the Model Development and simulation of model is synonymous with stream flow modelRainfall-runoff model produces surface and sub-surface runoff, an upland headwater basins routing module, and a major river routing module

Runoff prediction module• Groundwater Zone• Active soil layer

Upper thin layer (evaporation, transpiration, and percolation) Lower layer (transpiration and percolation)

Runoff producing mechanismsPrecipitation excessRapid subsurface flowBaseflow

Routing in river reaches-- Muskingum-Cunge channel scheme

No Data Source

1. the USGS HYDRO1K database (derivative of the USGS digital elevation database)

http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/hydro  

2. the USGS global land cover characteristics database

http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html

3. the FAO digital soil map of the world http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/prtsoil.htm

4. a daily version of the NOAA 10-day rainfall estimate (RFE) images

http://edcintl.cr.usgs.gov/adds/data/data.html

5. Daily potential evapotranspiration fields as input to the Penman-Monteith equation.

Can be obtained using Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) climate fields

Input Data

Input (cont.)HYDRO 1K

Basin boundaries and stream networks

Embeds topological information in digit

Grid cell resolution- one kilometer

USGS Global Land Cover Characteristics DatabaseMap projections- Interrupted Goode Homolosine and Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area

1-km nominal spatial resolution

derived thematic maps produced through the aggregation of seasonal land cover regions are included in each continental data base

FAO Soil Mapcharacterization of the hydraulic properties of the earth's surface

original scale is 1:5,000,000

NOAA RFEestimates of gross precipitation input to each basin

prepared from METEOSAT thermal infrared images and ground based rainfall stations

0.1 degree latitude/longitude grid

10-km resolution

Output

Daily Prediction Hydrographs

ability to illustrate trends in river flow magnitude and persistence

Buzi, Licungo, Limpopo, Lugenda, Luchulingo, Lurio, Messalo, Olifants, Runde, Save, and Zambezi rivers

sample hydrograph for Limpopo, Malbane

Disclaimers

has not been calibrated (nor validated) with observed data

effects of dams on stream flow timing and magnitude have not been included

model is still under development and these hydrographs provided online are experimental

Output-- Hydrograph