SMVI: Flash Drought Soil Moisture Volatility Index for the Contiguous U.S.

SMVI (Soil Moisture Volatility Index) data quantifies flash droughts using a method inspired by stock market running averages. The dataset supports the 2020 study 'Flash drought onset over the Contiguous United States: Sensitivity of inventories and trends to quantitative definitions' by Mahmoud Osman et al. Data is derived from the referenced open-access preprint.

Use Cases

• Compare flash drought detection methods based on the SMVI and other definitions included in the study.
• Analyze soil moisture volatility patterns for the Contiguous United States based on the SMVI metric.
• Validate flash drought inventories and trends using the quantitative definitions provided in the dataset.

Strengths

• Dataset is associated with a peer-reviewed study published in an open-access journal.
• Introduces a novel index (SMVI) for flash drought quantification based on a finance-inspired method.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Mahmoud Osman, Johns Hopkins University

Collection Method

Likely derived from soil moisture data and processed using the SMVI methodology.

Geography

Contiguous United States