ABSTRACT
BT Brightness temperature BTmax 32-Year absolute maximum BT BTmin 32-Year absolute minimum BT dY Yield deviation from technological trend E Exceptional drought EE Extreme-to-exceptional drought ENSO El Nino Southern Oscillation FAO Food and Agricultural Organization GAC Global area coverage GVH Global vegetation health GVI Global Vegetation Index IMSG I.M. System Group, Inc. IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change NDVI Normalized Di¦erence Vegetation Index NDVImax 32-Year absolute maximum NDVI NDVImin 32-Year absolute minimum NDVI NIR Near infrared re¨ectance NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NPOESS National Polar-Orbiting Operational Satellite
System NPP NPOES Preparatory Platform LOM Law of minimum LOT Law of tolerance PCC Principle of carrying capacity SE Severe-to-exceptional drought TCI Temperature Condition Index
VCI Vegetation Condition Index VIIRS Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite VIS Visible re¨ectance VH Vegetation health VHI Vegetation Health Index
Drought is a part of Earth’s climate, which occurs every year without warning, recognizing borders and political and economic di¦erences. Drought has wide-ranging impacts on water resources, ecosystems, energy, agriculture, forestry, human health, recreation, transportation, food supply and demands, and other resources and activities. Drought a¦ects the largest number of people on Earth and is a very costly disaster. In the United States, a country of high technology, drought is considered a “14 billion dollar” annual event in terms of incurred losses (NCDC 2013). In the developing world, drought leads to food shortages, famine, population displacement, and death of people. Since drought is a very complex and the least understood phenomenon, drought prediction, what would be an e¦ective way to ¤ght with drought consequences, is a very challenging task. Ÿerefore, an early detection and monitoring is currently an important way to deal with drought in assessing its impact and developing mitigation measures.
