ISPRS-Archives The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS-Archives Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. 2194-9034 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-3-W1-2020-139-2020 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR DROUGHT RISK MAPPING IN AUSTRALIA – DROUGHT RISK ANALYSER WEB APP Sun C. 1 Choy S. 1 Chua Z. 2 Aitkenhead I. 2 Kuleshov Y. 1 2 3 School of Science, RMIT University Melbourne, 3000, Australia Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS), Bureau of Meteorology, Docklands, 3008, Australia School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3000, Australia 18 11 2020 XLIV-3/W1-2020 139 144 Copyright: © 2020 C. Sun et al. 2020 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIV-3-W1-2020/139/2020/isprs-archives-XLIV-3-W1-2020-139-2020.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIV-3-W1-2020/139/2020/isprs-archives-XLIV-3-W1-2020-139-2020.pdf

Australia frequently experiences extended periods of severe droughts which have a significant negative impact on populations and economy. To improve preparedness for drought, decision-support tools which provide comprehensive information about current dry conditions are essential. In this paper, we present a conceptual design for a Drought Risk Analyser (DRA) – web-based information App for drought risk mapping developed using geographic information system (GIS). The developed DRA is based on combining Drought Hazard/Vulnerability/Exposure Indices (DHI, DVI and DEI respectively) into a final Drought Risk Index (DRI) for total of 542 Local Government Areas (LGA) in Australia. Drought indicators selected to compute drought hazard – the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI), the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) and Soil Moisture – were obtained through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Space-based Weather and Climate Extremes Monitoring (SWCEM) international initiative. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data were used to develop the drought-related population vulnerability index – DVI. Australian national Digital Elevation Model and catchment scale land use data were used to calculate the DEI. Implemented functionality of the designed DRA is illustrated using a case study for the 2019 drought in Australia. The DRA App will be beneficial for Australian farmers and rural communities to assist with decision making, as well as for LGA planners to gain insights on current state of drought risk at both local and national levels. The developed methodology of using space-based observations for assessing drought hazard could be applied for developing similar web-based information tools in drought-prone areas of other countries.