We propose to build, with east african partners, a user-defined set of decision support tools (dsts) to integrate existing empirical yield prediction models with earth observation (EO) data. These…

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), operating through its Office of Research, has been awarded a $657,405.59 research grant (Contract ID: 80NSSC20K0159) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The objective of this grant is to partner with the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) to co-develop improved decision support tools (DSTs) that translate Earth observation (EO) data into enhanced in-season drought and agricultural mapping and monitoring services for Eastern and Southern Africa. This work will leverage prior SERVIR-funded data services and newly available crop data to empower regional stakeholders by relating EO, weather, and climate forecasts to potential grain production outcomes. The grant does not have a set-aside designation, indicating it was awarded through full and open competition.

We propose to build, with east african partners, a user-defined set of decision support tools (dsts) to integrate existing empirical yield prediction models with earth observation (EO) data. These dsts could be used by key stakeholders to analyze and make early predictions of agricultural yields, production, and other food security outcomes. The tools will help users identify and explore quantitative links between a variety of earth observations and food security indicators and explore outcomes at national and regional scales. This system will empower national and regional analysts by directly relating EO, weather, and climate forecasts to potential grain production outcomes, and can support these activities throughout the growing season. This could be especially useful when early-to-mid season EO observations indicate agricultural issues but are under-utilized for early warning. The system will support analysts who need to anticipate end-of-season outcomes, as well as researchers and long-term planners. Users can evaluate historical relationships between water stress and grain production and then use those historical relationships to guide future decision making under various climate scenarios. The proposed work addresses the food security and agriculture component by directly enhancing several existing services provided by the servir-eastern and southern africa hub: drought monitoring and assessment, yield assessment and prediction, and the development of data sets supporting crop insurance partnerships. The work proposed here will empower the regional servir hub (rcmrd) to become a better service provider to eastern and southern african institutions by facilitating the use of EO and geospatial technologies in ways that enhance food security and agriculture related-decision making. In turn, this will contribute to greater resilience to climatic shocks, particularly droughts. The primary objective is to partner with rcmrd to CO-develop improved decision support tools (dsts) that translate EOS into improved in-season drought and agricultural mapping and monitoring services. This includes a plan to explore the utility of these enhanced data sets that support index insurance applications. The proposed activities will leverage prior servir-funded data services. These include the rcmrd instance of the early warning explorer web mapping service, the climate hazards center s infrared precipitation with stations (chirps) and infrared temperature with stations (chirts) data products. The proposed work will also utilize newly available crop data from the fews net data warehouse.