5. Drought Risk Management in the MENA Region: The Role of Earth Observations and Open-Source Tools

Drought as a climate risk in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is related to disastrous implications on a wide range of aspects. This chapter presents an overview on drought risk management in the MENA region, the technical approaches, notable progress in the past 10 years, and the main restrictions for regional drought risk management. Within these contexts, this chapter discusses the role of earth observations and open-source tools in supporting drought mitigation efforts in the MENA region. Satellite reanalysis products which provide meteorological estimations help circumvent challenges related to limited meteorological data coverage, record gaps, and data accessibility. Open-source versions provide API capabilities and near-real time observations which could facilitate early warning systems. Increasingly popular sources like NASA’s POWER platform, has been recommended with lesser restrictions on their use in drought analysis following validation studies in the MENA. Potential utilities include drought characterization in terms of intensity, duration, and frequency. Open-source reanalysis products also extend to provide proxy for impact data, such as biomass productivity, which are scarcer and comprise a much bigger challenge in drought vulnerability assessments. FAO’s WaPOR platform is a prominent example, and institutionalization at national level in the MENA region has been supported by FAO which could significantly improve drought assessment capabilities. Gridded visualization of drought vulnerability based on both drought characterization and impact data is also available through the PRISM tool. Complementary tools to help identify more specific impacts include crop simulation and climate models. Capacity building and training is essential to fully utilize emerging tools due to the wide range of their applications.