Hannaford, Jamie and Collins, Kevin and Haines, Sophie and Barker, Lucy J. (2018) Enhancing Drought Monitoring and Early Warning for the United Kingdom through Stakeholder Coinquiries. Weather, Climate, and Society, 11 (1). pp. 49-63. ISSN 1948-8327

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Abstract

Drought is widely written about as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, with complexity arising not just from biophysical drivers, but also human understanding and experiences of drought and its impacts. This has led to a proliferation of different drought definitions and indicators, creating a challenge for the design of drought monitoring and early warning (MEW) systems, which are a key component of drought preparedness. Here, we report on social learning workshops conducted in the United Kingdom aimed at improving the design and operation of drought MEW systems as part of a wider international project including parallel events in the United States and Australia. We highlight key themes for MEW design and use: ‘‘types’’ of droughts, indicators and impacts, uncertainty, capacity and decision-making, communications, and governance.We shed light on the complexity of drought through the multiple framings of the problem by different actors, and how this influences their needs for MEW. Our findings suggest that MEW systems need to embrace this complexity and strive for consistent messaging while also tailoring information for a wide range of audiences in terms of the drought characteristics, temporal and spatial scales, and impacts that are important for their particular decision-making processes. We end with recommendations to facilitate this approach.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This study is the joint outcome of several projects that co-organized the stakeholder engagement activities: a Belmont Forum project DrIVER (funded in the United Kingdom by NERC, Grant NE/L010038/1); several projects within the NERC Drought and Water Scarcity Programme (Historic Droughts NE/L01016X/1; IMPETUS NE/L010267/1 and NE/L010488/1; and a knowledge exchange followon project ENDOWS awarded under the same grants);
Keywords:	Europe; drought; hydrology; seasonal forecasting; agriculture; ecosystem effects;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	18744
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-18-0042.1
Depositing User:	Corinne Voces
Date Deposited:	21 Aug 2024 14:36
Journal or Publication Title:	Weather, Climate, and Society
Publisher:	American Meteorological Society
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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