Intermediate

This map-based resource leverages Google Earth Engine and Tensorflow to process near real-time weather and remote sensing data, providing weekly forecast estimates of the magnitude and timing of annual production and fuel across coterminous U.S. rangelands.

Users can access several cutting-edge information products, with detailed reports in development.

The tool provides free, near real-time information to rangeland managers, fire specialists, and producers to act on in a timely manner.

Images are automatically updated when the original providers update them on their respective websites. The tool is focused on eight states: Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Click on any image to view a full-sized version, and click again to reduce it. You can enlarge multiple images at the same time, and click-drag to move them around your desktop. Each image's name is linked to the corresponding page at the provider's website.

Images included:

This website provides access to drought indices that are used by the Montana Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee (Monitoring Sub-Committee). All datasets are calculated daily and can be aggregated by watershed and county boundaries. Much of the underlying data in this dashboard is from the gridMET dataset.

This dashboard provides map-based information on the current status of drought in South Dakota, including general drought information, temperature, precipitation, the Standardized Precipitation Index, hydrologic information, agricultural information, and soil moisture.

This index is a shorter-term indicator of dryness, calculated through the analysis of satellite- and model-based observations of conditions that influence drought. It was designed to provide a snapshot of anomalously dry or wet conditions over the past four weeks, and serves as an indicator of emerging or rapidly changing drought conditions. The maps are updated weekly over the continental United States and have a 1-kilometer spatial resolution.

This toolkit from the National Drought Mitigation Center provides:

Each station, displayed in a map viewer, provides a long, continuous record of weather data. Indices include pre-generated heat maps, time series, tabular analyses, and more for the Standardized Precipitation Index, the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index, the Palmer Drought Severity Index, the self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index, the Standardized Streamflow Index, and more. 

Every spring, ranchers face the same difficult challenge—trying to guess how much grass will be available for livestock to graze during the upcoming summer. This innovative forecast tool can help producers in the Great Plains reduce this economically important source of uncertainty.

This tool was developed to quantify the relative impact of expected climate change effects for terrestrial vertebrate species. The SAVS uses 22 criteria related to expected response or vulnerability of species in a questionnaire to provide a framework for assessing vulnerability to climate change. The questionnaire is completed using information gathered from published materials, personal knowledge, or expert consultation. Scores generated can be used to inform management planning.

CHARM is a mapping application that gives local officials, stakeholders, and citizens the power to map and analyze growth with real-time feedback. When used with the weTable—a low cost, do-it-yourself, interactive tabletop approach for public engagement (instructions provided on the CHARM website)—it forms a powerful planning tool for engaging the public and gathering their values about the community’s future. The application is supported with a library of mapping data, including data on urbanization, storm surges, conservation, public facilities, and coastal resources.