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Drought Impacts & CoCoRaHS Reporting: The Benefits and Importance to Producers

Drought Impact Reporter

The National Drought Mitigation Center’s Drought Impact Reporter tracks the impact of in various ways, including scanning media for reports about drought impacts, and collecting and mapping observations of drought-related conditions and impacts from agricultural producers and other reports. Each of these efforts appears on a separate map. Reports about local conditions and drought may highlight the need for the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor Author to take a closer look at conditions in a region when forming the U.S. Drought Monitor map. Sometimes reports can help reconcile conflicting data or validate data. The U.S. Drought Monitor map affects disaster relief funding through USDA agencies.

CoCoRaHS Reporting

CoCoRaHS is a non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and report precipitation (rain, hail and snow). Using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive website, CoCoRaHS aims to provide the highest quality data for natural resource and research applications. CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. USDA observes CoCoRaHS data regularly to evaluate crop conditions, anticipate market cycles, and estimate irrigation requirements and to provide input to the U.S. Drought Monitor. By providing daily observations, agricultural producers and ranchers help to fill in a piece of the weather puzzle that affects many across their community. 

For a brief 2-page description and 'how to' guide for both the Drought Impacts Reporter and CoCoRaHS, select here