National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): A model for interagency climate services collaboration

The NIDIS Act of 2006 calls for an interagency approach to improve drought monitoring, forecasting and early warning. Led by NOAA, NIDIS focuses on the consolidation of physical, hydrological and socio-economic impacts data; integrated observing networks; development of a suite of drought decision support and simulation tools; and interactive delivery of standardized products through an internet portal. The vision for NIDIS is a dynamic and accessible drought risk information system that informs user decisions in preparing for and mitigating of the effects of drought.

In support of this vision, the U.S. Drought Portal (USDP; drought.gov) has been developed as a national resource for data, models, risk information and impacts of drought, with responsibility for integrating, archiving, and disseminating data via the internet. The first release of the portal has proven especially helpful in assimilating drought-related information from multiple federal, state, and other agencies in support of monitoring, forecasting, and impacts assessment endeavors.

To strengthen this interagency collaboration, NIDIS will continue to develop the portal and other technologies (e.g., touch table), and engage partners through regional pilots with the following objectives:

• Support the capability to provide data and information required for local, national, and regional decisions on drought and other sectoral issues;

• Act as a data integrator to complement and support sector-based issues (e.g., drought, water quality, carbon cycle, etc.);

• Promote data standards (e.g., Service-Oriented Architecture) for linkage of agency data to user inputs; and

• Contribute to enhanced data visualization tools that allow integration and interrogation of agency-provided and user-input spatial data.