Drought Monitoring Capability of the Oklahoma Mesonet Gary McManus Oklahoma Climatological Survey Oklahoma Mesonet
Mesonet History Commissioned in 1994 Atmospheric measurements with 5-minute resolution, available to users within 5 minutes of collection Subsurface temperature and moisture measurements at various depths Over 5 billion observations archived!
Rainfall
High Resolution Point and Integrated Soil Moisture
Evaporation Measurement Capabilities
Your State Needs A Mesonet! The Oklahoma Mesonet gives us the ability to monitor drought and track its impacts on a daily basis at a county-level scale. There are many, many benefits of the Oklahoma Mesonet: Severe Weather, K-12 Science Education, Agriculture, Emergency Management, Wildfire Forecasting, etc. One last boast the The National Weather Association awarded the Oklahoma Mesonet the 2013 Larry R. Johnson Special Award for operating a comprehensive observing network with a 20-year legacy of exemplary service for the residents of Oklahoma that earned the title of America s gold standard network from the National Research Council.
Gary McManus gmcmanus@mesonet.org --- mesonet.org Apps available for Apple and Android
Drought impacts Drought response and possible partnerships Facility flexibility Federal intervention State intervention Agency, organization and/or working group partnerships
Lack of a cohesive national soil moisture network Lack of a cohesive national ground water monitoring network More satellite based products coming on board, many addressing soil moisture, evaporation, and ground water
Options Available for Each Station Over 1 Billion Drought Index calculations currently in the Atlas Almost every location in the United States is 75 miles or less from a station Approximately 500,000 gridded maps of drought indices available on weekly/monthly time steps
Western Governor s Drought Forum NCED - September 2014 New Frontiers in Water Supply Modeling and Analysis Mike Hightower Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, New Mexico (505) 844-5499 mmhight@sandia.gov Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Growing Limitations on Fresh Surface and Ground Water Availability Little increase in surface water storage capacity since 1980 Concerns over climate impacts on surface water supplies ( Based on USGS WSP-2250 1984 and Alley 2007) Many major ground water aquifers seeing reductions in water quality and yield (Shannon 2007)
under Average Survey Responses Water Conditions Extent of WA State Shortages Likely over the Next Decade WA AK AK AK under Average Water Conditions under Average Water Conditions MT ME ND MT ME ND MN OR MI ID MN OR WA MI SD WI ID MI NY MT WY ND SD WI MI WY IA NE MN PA NJ OR MI VT NV ID NH OH UT IL IN MD SD WI IA DE MI NY PA NE MA NJ CA CO WV NV WY Survey KS Responses MO VA OH CTRI UT KY IL IN MDDE IA PA NE NJ CA CO WV NV NC TN OH UT KS OK ILMO IN MDDE VA AZ KY CA NM CO AR WV SC under Average Water Conditions KS MO VA NC MS AL KY GA TN OK WAAZ NC NM TX AR TN SC OK LA AZ NM MT ME ND AR SC MS AL FL GA MN AL OR MS MI GA VT ID NH TX TX SD LAWI MI NY LA MA WY CTRI IA FL FL PALegend NE NJ NV OH UT IL IN shortagemdde CA CO WV Statewide KS MO VA KY Regional Legend AZ NM Local NC TN shortage OK None AR SC Statewide shortage No response or uncertain MS AL GA Regional Statewide Local Regional TX LA None Local AK No FL response or uncertain Extent of State Shortages Likely over the Next Decade VT NH VT MA NH CTRIME NY MA Water Shortage Concerns by State CTRI None Legend No response or uncertain Legend shortage Statewide Regional Local None No response or uncertain GAO 2003 GAO 2013 Water stress is increasing nationally
Climate Changes Impact Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, and Runoff Nat. Geo. April 2009 from IPCC Mid-latitude population belts will be most strongly affected
Projected Rio Grande Flows through 2100 Preliminary results show similar trends in other Western Basins
Rio Grande Reservoir Supply through 2100 Results are not predictions, but rather a starting point for dialogue and increased awareness of potential impacts of climate Roach et al.