October 1– 12, 2021
Warm and dry conditions continue to impact agricultural lands in the U.S. Northern Plains and the Canadian Prairies.
Years of dry spell across the U.S. Southwest has led some scientists to classify the extreme, prolonged dryness as a “megadrought.” Drought in North America took a different shape in 2021, impacting areas that do not deal with long-term or extreme drought as typically. The northern Great Plains has actually been managing drought for months.
According to the U.S. and Canadian dry spell displays, “extreme” dry spell initially took hold in North Dakota and Manitoba in mid-March 2021. By summer, severe and “remarkable” drought (the worst classification) had spread to parts of Montana, Minnesota, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Current autumn rainfall has lessened the effect in some areas, but for the most part soils stay dry.
Dry spell in the northern Great Plains can impact the production of crops, in addition to forage for livestock. When examining dry spell and its potential to affect farming, researchers look at a wide variety of indications such as rainfall, temperature level, evapotranspiration, and just how much moisture is held in the soil.
” Earth observation data can tell us a lot about ecological conditions that impact farming production relatively early in the growing season, and obviously throughout,” said Mary Mitkish, assistant manager for NASA Harvest, a used sciences program advancing the use of Earth observations for farming and food security. “By combining satellite information with weather and other datasets, we can thoroughly monitor crop conditions and anticipate expected effects on production.”
One of those indications– soil wetness– is revealed in the map above. Particularly, the map reveals soil moisture abnormalities; that is, how the water content in the top meter (3 feet) of soil from October 1-12, 2021, compared to typical conditions for the time of year. This layer of soil, called the “root zone,” is the most appropriate layer for farming. Too little water here can avoid seed germination or stunt plant development.
The measurements were originated from data gathered by the Soil Moisture Active Passive ( SMAP) objective, the first NASA satellite dedicated to measuring the water content of soils. SMAPs radiometer can find water in the leading 5 centimeters (2 inches) of the ground. Researchers utilize that surface layer information in a hydrologic design to approximate just how much water is present in the root zone.
The 2nd map below programs shallow groundwater storage, as measured by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On ( GRACE-FO) satellites on October 11, 2021 Compared to water in the root zone, which can respond fairly quickly to rainfall occasions, groundwater is a deeper resource and replenishes gradually. This deeper source of water is used for crop irrigation, drinking water, and can sustain streams throughout dry spells.
October 11, 2021.
The Canadian Drought Monitor reported that by the end of September, 67 percent of Alberta was in moderate to serious drought, including 97 percent of the provinces agricultural land. Sixty-four percent of Saskatchewan and 43 percent of Manitoba were in moderate to remarkable drought, encompassing 100 percent of the agricultural land in both provinces.
In the United States, drought throughout the summertime also hit hard in areas growing spring wheat, which is collected from late summertime to early fall. USDA crop reports indicate that in mid-August– around the most vital time for spring wheat– crop conditions were primarily reasonable to very poor in the Dakotas, Montana, and Minnesota.
Soils in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin also appeared to be unusually dry. Still, in early fall, the condition of corn crops was mainly great to fair.
It remains to be seen how the continuous drought will impact yields of winter wheat, which is planted in autumn and gathered in spring. Going into fall, practically half of the winter wheat crops grown in the U.S. were still dealing with dry spell.
NASA Harvest is a used sciences program with the objective of advancing the adoption and making it possible for of satellite Earth observations by private and public companies to benefit food security, agriculture, and human and ecological resiliency in the U.S. and worldwide. This consortium of scientists and farming stakeholders is led by the University of Maryland.
Dry spell in North America took a different shape in 2021, impacting locations that do not face long-term or intense drought as typically. According to the U.S. and Canadian drought screens, “extreme” drought initially took hold in North Dakota and Manitoba in mid-March 2021. By summer season, severe and “remarkable” drought (the worst category) had actually spread out to parts of Montana, Minnesota, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The Canadian Drought Monitor reported that by the end of September, 67 percent of Alberta was in moderate to serious drought, consisting of 97 percent of the provinces farming land. Sixty-four percent of Saskatchewan and 43 percent of Manitoba were in moderate to exceptional drought, encompassing 100 percent of the farming land in both provinces.
