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14 March 2003

Satellites Reveal Continued Drought in the Horn of Africa

(NOAA warns of potential crisis this summer) (520)
Washington -- For the fourth year in a row, the environmental
satellites operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) have detected crippling drought conditions in
parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia that will leave residents in this
broad area facing severe water shortages, potential outbreaks of
disease and starvation.
"Any hope of success for the early stage of the agricultural season
(March - May) for that part of Africa is at risk now," warned Felix
Kogan of the NOAA Satellite and Information Services Office of
Research and Applications. "This is the time that the local population
counts on to get enough food to last until fall, when the next harvest
is ready," he added in a February 13 NOAA press release.
"Drought that hangs on this long anywhere is very unusual," Kogan
noted, and for that reason, he said, his organization "wants to give
humanitarian and relief officials advanced notice to make decisions
that hopefully will save lives."
"NOAA's ability to use data from our environmental satellites to
detect these dangerous conditions is a striking example of the
benefits derived from a global observing system," he said.
Information from NOAA's polar-orbiting environmental satellites (POES)
has also helped researchers track the ongoing drought conditions.
These satellites circle the Earth in orbits that provide two views
each day of the entire Earth and support NOAA's large-scale,
long-range weather and climate forecasts and other missions.
One of the satellites' key instruments, called the Advanced Very High
Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), measures the amount of solar reflection
from green vegetation based on their chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll,
the green pigment in plants, transforms energy from sunlight into
chemical energy. The more solar energy plants absorb, the less is
reflected back into space.
Kogan said NOAA Satellite and Information Services researchers combine
the POES visible, near-infrared and infrared measurements to calculate
moisture, thermal conditions and the overall health of the vegetation
in specific regions.
"Since 2000, drought conditions have affected nearly 20% of the
world's land mass," Kogan warned. "This [technological] method has
proven successful over the years, and we'll continue using it as a way
to warn the global community about the dangers of long-term drought."
NOAA Satellite and Information Services is the primary source of
space-based meteorological and climate data in the United States. The
organization operates the nation's environmental satellites, which are
used for weather and ocean observation and forecasting, climate
monitoring and other environmental applications. Some of the
applications include sea-surface temperature, fire detection and ozone
monitoring.
NOAA Satellite and Information Services also operate three data
centers, which house global databases in climatology, oceanography,
solid Earth geophysics, marine geology and geophysics,
solar-terrestrial physics and paleoclimatology.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal
and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U. S. Department of
Commerce.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)