AgriMetSoft


Does the AgMERRA datasets is a proper source for calculating drought indices

The AgMERRA and AgCFSR climate forcing datasets were created as an element of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) to provide consistent, daily time series over the 1980-2010 period with global coverage of climate variables required for agricultural models. These datasets were designed to be useful for AgMIP's coordinated, protocol-based studies of agricultural impacts ranging from biophysical process studies to global agricultural economic models (Rosenzweig et al., 2013).

These datasets are provided to promote consistency and transparency in climate data and to facilitate more harmonized comparisons across regions and between models, particularly in instances where there exist strong market linkages between regions. The 1980-2010 time period is of particular importance for agricultural modeling efforts due to the necessity to calibrate models for improved intercomparison as well as for acting as a baseline upon which future climate scenarios can be statistically and dynamically constructed. For better clariffications visit NASA link.

Salehnia et al., 2017 used AgMERRA datasets in comparing with stations data for calculating meteorological drought indices. Their results revealed that the AgMERRA precipitation data are quite consistent with the station-observed precipitation data. So, the AgMERRA precipitation data can be acceptable for monitoring meteorological droughts. If you want to check the performance of AgMERRA for checking "Drought Monitor", you can download precipitation data of AgMERRA for your study area, then using DMAP (Drought Monitor And Prediction), MDM, or RDIT of Agrimetsoft products, for calculating drought indices.

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