U.S. Drought Monitor Forum

George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
April 13-14, 2011
Organized and Sponsored by Office of the Chief Economist, USDA
Climate Prediction Center, NOAA
and Environmental Science and Technology Center,George Mason University
Hosted by Environmental Science and Technology Center, George Mason University
Participating Organizations National Drought Mitigation Center
Office of the Chief Economist, USDA
Climate Prediction Center, NOAA
National Climatic Data Center, NOAA

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Time Title Speaker
8:30 - 8:45 am Opening Remarks Peter Stearns, Provost, GMU
8:45 - 9:15 am Keynote Address Laura Furgione, DOC/NOAA
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Weather Services and Deputy Director of the NWS
9:15 - 9:45 am Keynote Address Brandon Willis, USDA/FSA
Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs
9:45 - 10:00 am Welcome and Information Brad Rippey, USDA/OCE and
David Miskus, NOAA/NWS/CPC
10:00 - 10:20 am Refreshment Break
10:20 - 10:40 am Making of the USDM Mark Svoboda, NDMC
10:40 - 11:00 am USDM: Live Demo David Miskus, CPC
Drought Center Updates
11:00 - 11:20 am GIS Update from USDA Eric Luebehusen, USDA
11:20 - 11:40 am Update from NWS/CPC Matt Rosencrans, NOAA/NWS/CPC
11:40 am - noon NIDIS Update from NCDC Michael Brewer, NOAA/NCDC
Noon - 1:20 pm Lunch (on your own)
1:20 - 1:40 pm NDMC: New and Improved National Drought Atlas Brian Fuchs, NDMC
1:40 - 2:00 pm Update from DRI/WRCC Laura Edwards, DRI/WRCC
2:00 - 2:20 pm Pacific Islands Update Kevin Kodama, NOAA/NWS
A Broader View of Drought Monitoring
2:20 - 2:40 pm New Challenges of Soil/Vegetation Moisture Monitoring from Space John Qu, GMU/ESTC
2:40 - 3:00 pm Synergism Between Shortwave, Infrared, and Passive Microwave Sensors to Improve Estimates of Soil Moisture Content Raymond Hunt, USDA/ARS
3:00 - 3:20 pm Refreshment Break
3:20 - 3:40 pm Emerging Techniques for Synoptic and High Spatial Resolution Modeling and Monitoring of Drought Graeme Aggett, AMEC
3:40 - 4:00 pm NIDIS ACF Basin Pilot Keith Ingram, Southeast Climate Consortium
4:00 - 5:00 pm Open Discussion
5:00 pm Adjournment

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Time Title Speaker
State/Regional Drought Responses
8:30 - 8:40 am Welcome and Information Brad Rippey, USDA
8:40 - 9:20 am NIDIS Assessment of the Upper Colorado Basin
CoCoRaHS Update
Wendy Ryan, Colorado State University
9:20 - 9:40 am Coordinated NC Response Curtis Weaver, USGS North Carolina Water Science Center
9:40 - 10:00 am FL Unified Assessment David Zierden, FL State Climatologist
10:00 - 10:20 am Refreshment Break
10:20 - 10:40 am The Land That Drought Forgot John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas State Climatologist
10:40 - 11:00 am Drought Monitoring Activities at the Southern Regional Climate Center Luigi Romolo, Southern RCC
11:00 - 11:20 am Drought Monitoring at the Northeast RCC Keith Eggleston, Northeast RCC
11:20 - 11:40 am VegDRI Brian Wardlow, NDMC
11:40 am - noon NDMC: New and Improved Drought Impact Reporter Mark Svoboda, NDMC
Noon - 1:20 pm Lunch (on your own)
Miscellaneous Drought Topics
1:20 - 1:40 pm NLDAS and Drought Monitoring Kingtse Mo, CPC
1:40 - 2:00 pm GRACE: Monitoring Groundwater Response to Drought Matt Rodell, NASA/GSFC
2:00 - 2:20 pm Potential USDM Usage Adriana Kocornik-Mina, DOE
2:20 - 2:40 pm Canadian Update Trevor Hadwen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
2:40 - 3:00 pm Refreshment Break
3:00 - 5:00 pm Open Discussion and/or Ask the USDM Author Moderator: Kelly Redmond, DRI/WRCC
5:00 pm Adjournment