Prioritization of Research on Drought Assessment in a Changing Climate
Abstract Drought is a period of abnormally dry weather that leads to hydrological imbalance. Drought assessments determine the characteristics, severity, and impacts of a drought. Climate change adds conceptual and quantitative challenges to traditional drought assessments. This paper highlights the challenges of assessing drought in a climate made non‐stationary by human activities or natural variability. To address these challenges, we then identify 10 key research priorities for advancing drought science and improving assessments in a changing climate. The priorities focus on improving drought indicators to account for non‐stationarity, evaluating drought impacts and their trends, addressing regional differences in non‐stationarity, determining the physical drivers of drought and how they are changing, capturing precipitation variability, and understanding the drivers of aridification. Ultimately, improved drought assessments will inform better risk management, adaptation strategies, and planning, especially in areas where climate change significantly alters drought dynamics. This perspective offers a path toward more accurate and effective drought management in a non‐stationary climate system.
Authors
- Amanda Sheffield (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-5368)
- Aparna Bamzai‐Dodson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2444-9051)
- Jason A. Otkin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4034-7845)
- Jacob D. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-7294)
- Gretel Follingstad
- Erin Lane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9717-3797)
- Roger S. Pulwarty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8924-392X)
- Britt-Anne A. Parker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2429-5854)
- Trent W. Ford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2873-8520)
- John C. Hammond (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4935-0736)
- Elliot Wickham
- Zachary Hoylman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5532-5871)
- Dennis Todey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3891-8434)
- Zachary Leasor
- Jeffrey E. Herrick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1731-4156)
- Amy Hudson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5814-7492)
- Mike Hobbins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5540-8466)
- R. Kyle Bocinsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1862-3428)
- Natalie Umphlett
- John W. Nielsen‐Gammon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5336-2409)
- Brian Fuchs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-084X)
- Abby G. Frazier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4076-4577)
- Royce Fontenot
- Andrew Hoell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9936-2527)
- Erica Fleishman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4435-3134)
- Joel Lisonbee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8231-6548)
- Yongqiang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8961-4137)
Institutions
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (US)
- Clark University (US)
- Oregon State University (US)
- US Forest Service (US)
- South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Center for Grain and Animal Health Research (US)
- Northern Research Station (US)
- Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (US)
- NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (US)
- National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment (US)
- Society For Range Management (US)
- Illinois Archaeological Survey (US)
- Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (US)
- National Integrated Drought Information System
- Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
- North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
- University of Montana (US)
- University of Missouri (US)
- Texas A&M University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Earth s Future
- Published
- 2025-03-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ef005276
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Hydrology and Drought Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.74