On April 8, 2003 the Secretary of Agriculture Veneman reported that a Drought Coordinating Council had been formed to monitor ongoing drought conditions and the impact on agriculture producers. In addition to USDA activities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is working with the Western Governors' Association (WGA) to develop a "National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)."

A significant component of NIDIS is monitoring climate using a variety of existing federal, state, and local climate networks. No one network or combination of existing networks may be able to detect drought nationwide. Drought impacts can exist in areas with inadequate climate measurements required to determine the extent and severity of a drought. Such areas represent "gaps" in the existing climate monitoring network.

This paper describes a process that uses available soils, vegetation and climate information to close spatial gaps in drought monitoring by examining existing climate station locations and identifying locations for new stations in data deficient areas.