Drought affects the planet in many ways, but some of the most severe impacts are to agricultural areas, especially those in developing countries. Prolonged drought may cause crops to fail, resulting in widespread food shortages and famine. While these developing countries may not have sophisticated ground-based sensor networks to monitor drought conditions, we can use satellites to estimate droughts anywhere on Earth. Satellite drought index information from NOAA is summarized within areas identified as agricultural based on an analysis by the USGS and Esri. The map below displays the latest monthly CHIRPS Standardized Precipitation Index product produced by USGS and UC Santa Barbara.

Final Report describing regional signature detection for blind and traditional play fairways as part of Phase I of New Mexico Play Fairway Analysis. This project seeks to reduce exploration risk and identify new prospective targets using available geologic, geochemical, and geophysical data sets. Although this project focuses on southwestern New Mexico, the techniques that were developed during this project are widely applicable elsewhere, particularly in arid regions.