Onboard machine learning and compact thermal imaging could turn satellites into real-time fire management tools to help officials on the ground.
Drought
Posted inNews
California Heat Waves Triggered by Pacific Thunderstorms
New link may offer 5-week lead time on predicting extreme heat in California’s fruit belt.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Through Flood and Drought: Reconstructing the Yellow River
Tree ring chronologies fill in gaps in the historical record and offer insights into the natural flow of China’s Yellow River.
Posted inScience Updates
Better Approaches to Managing Drought in the American Southwest
USGS Southwest Region 2018 Science Exchange Workshop: Drought Science; Fort Collins, Colorado, 25–27 September 2018
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Rising Temperatures Reduce Colorado River Flow
Hotter conditions have played a much greater role in reducing flow during the ongoing Millennium Drought than in a mid-20th century drought.
Posted inNews
How Forecasting Models Are Changing the Way We Fight Fires
Eos speaks with Andy Edman, western region chief of the Science and Technology Infusion Division at the National Weather Service, about how the agency is helping wildfire crews fight fires from space.
Posted inNews
Severe Drought May Have Helped Hasten Ancient Maya’s Collapse
Chemical signatures from sediments in lake cores reveal that the centuries-long drought during the fall of Classic Maya civilization was worse than researchers had imagined.
Posted inNews
Will Cape Town Escape Its Water-Starved Fate?
Despite ramped-up conservation efforts and hopes lifted by a few recent rainstorms, residents of the South African metropolis still face the possibility of a water doomsday.
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Challenges of Drought Prediction
Advances in dynamical modeling and the use of hybrid methods have improved drought prediction, but challenges still remain to improve the accuracy of drought forecasting.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
California’s Water Savings Dwindle When Drought Fears Subside
Policy changes and media attention affect how much water Californians use, as well as how long these behaviors prevail. Could public awareness shift behaviors toward long-term conservation?