Africa Combined Drought Indicator: ERA5-Based Geospatial Monitoring

This geospatial dataset provides the Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) for the African continent, produced by the African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development. It integrates ERA5 reanalysis precipitation data with soil moisture and vegetation stress anomalies to classify drought stages. The data is delivered in GeoTIFF format and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Identifying drought-prone zones using the synthesized CDI classification values
• Correlating rainfall deficits (SPI) with vegetation stress layers to assess crop impact
• Analyzing soil moisture anomalies to predict agricultural water availability

Strengths

• Uses ERA5 reanalysis data to ensure spatial consistency in areas with sparse gauge networks
• Integrates three distinct environmental drivers: rainfall, soil moisture, and vegetation stress
• Provided in GeoTIFF format for direct integration into GIS workflows

Limitations

• Reanalysis-based precipitation (ERA5) may deviate from local rain gauge observations in complex terrains
• Lack of specific metadata on the temporal range of the historical baseline used for anomalies

Provenance

Source

African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD)

Collection Method

Synthesis of ERA5 reanalysis precipitation, soil moisture models, and satellite-derived vegetation indices

Freshness

Updated as of March 2026.

Geography

Africa