ESSIC Assistant Research Scientist Amy McNally’s hydro modeling work with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)—(a leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity)—was recognized in several ways recently. Utilizing soil moisture data gathered from the Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), the FEWS-Net team issued a report detailing the current drought conditions in Somalia.
This soil moisture information was also included in a post by a University of California – Santa Barbara blog titled “Forecast for Below Normal Somali Gu Rains Based on January Sea Surface Temperatures.”
Interestingly, the FLDAS has also shown success in tracking winter weather, having recently provided information on the largest snowfall in Afghan region since 2001. A report from NASA’s Land Information System (LIS) Framework noted that FEWS NET had provided information on widespread snowfall in the area which–according to news reports—was responsible for over 100 human fatalities.
![Figure 3. Monthly TPW anomaly time series shown in red for ERA5 and blue for MiRS SNPP, 2012-2021. The straight lines are the linear regression fits. [a] is for global, [b] for Tropics, and [c] for mid-latitude regions, respectively.](https://essic.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/grassotti-zhou-150x150.png)
