Soil moisture monitoring for food security in Africa

Droughts are one of the most severe natural hazards with regard to affected people, spatio-temporal extension and economic losses. At the same time, population growth is expected to put global agricultural production under increasing pressure. Thus, drought monitoring and forecasting systems would be essential for large parts of the globe, and satellites are a valuable data source to establish such monitoring systems.
The presentation will give examples on the relevant parameters measured by satellites, whereas the focus will be on soil moisture. Furthermore, the combination of satellite measurements and model forecasts will be described to point out the state-of-the-art possibilities in forecasting drought events. Examples from an existing system will be presented for the region of Eastern Africa.

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Lecture slides