ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: While many things have changed over the past 15 years with the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) (Svoboda et al., 2002), the fundamental process of the USDM remains true today, which integrates multiple inputs, a percentile approach and expert input from experts in the field. It is obvious why there isn’t, and shouldn’t be, just one definition (Wilhite et al. 1985 and Lloyd-Hughes, 2013) of drought being applied today around the world, yet many think that there can be, or should be, just one drought index or indicator that addresses all types of drought. The fact is, the timing, region, intensity and duration are different each time and thus require a uniquely flexible way of detecting and depicting drought through a diligent Drought Early Warning System (DEWS).
