Integrated Water Portal for the Southeast US

The NC State Climate Office (NCSCO) has developed a map-driven data exploration and visualization tool for use in drought monitoring over the southeast US.  This tool integrates water data from various agencies, including US Geological Survey, US Army Corps of Engineers, and NC Division of Water Resources, weather data from several networks, including those operated by the National Weather Service and NCSCO, and high-resolution gridded drought indices generated by the NCSCO, including the Standardized Precipitation Index, Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, and Keetch-Byram Drought Index.  Layers such as state and county boundaries, river basins, radar coverage, and the US Drought Monitor can also be displayed to provide meaningful context for the various data.  In addition to monitoring conditions, the web portal has incorporated experimental monthly and seasonal inflow and storage forecasts for select basins across the Southeast.  Feedback from user and stakeholder groups, such as the NC Drought Management Advisory Council and NC Water Resources Research Institute, were integrated into the tool’s development and refinement.  The resulting product allows users to quickly explore regional and local conditions to support drought and surface water monitoring and forecasting needs.