tel & fax: +98 21 44901801

NCADM@scwmri.ac.ir 

NCADM Divisions

 Necessity

 National Center for Agricultural Drought Management (NCADM) aims at forecasting the probability of drought occurrence over the country via implementing drought monitoring and forecasting process. By providing early warning and disseminating drought related information as well as proposing appropriate drought management plans for the country, the NCADM helps to reduce the damages and losses caused by droughts. By monitoring various drought indices and other factors, the probability of drought occurrences and their corresponding severity are forecasted and conveyed to the planners and decision makers. Since agricultural sector and its related industries are the first parts of the economy affect by droughts, the NCADM is established in the Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute (SCWMRI) in order to mitigate drought impacts by monitoring, forecasting, proposing agricultural drought risk management and providing and implementing appropriate drought action plans.

Milestones

 The NCADM regularly obtains monthly meteorological data from the Meteorological Organization and the Ministry of Energy at the end of each month. The obtained data is quality controlled and checked before calculating drought indices. Based on drought monitoring indices, the severity and spatial extent of drought and water shortages for climate divisions of Iran will be illustrated through the maps and time series plots. These illustrations and the corresponding climatic analysis disseminate regularly among the users and decision makers at the end of each month though media and we site of the NCADM. The severity, extent and duration of drought occurrences for each climatic division of Iran will be also predicted using appropriate statistical and mathematical tools. The prediction results will be also disseminated to the users and decision makers by media and the website of the NCADM. The resultant information helps the planners and decision makers to improve their tasks more specifically in the areas of managing dry farming and pasture, supplying fresh water, and managing ecosystems in order to cope with drought periods with minimal losses and damages.

Drought 

Drought is a natural hazard which causes irreversible damages and losses to various economic activities of the country especially in agricultural sector. The dry-farming and pastures are the first parts of the agricultural activities that are hit by droughts.

Drought impacts always stagnates the country's development planning and may cause widespread economical & social crisis in some of the climatic regions of the country, if not the entire country. For example, the damages of drought events of 1997 and 2000 accounted for 1 and 2.6 billion dollars, respectively, mainly in the agricultural sector. In 2001, about 278 cities and 105 villages confronted with serious problems in supplying drinkable water.

Although there is no way to prevent drought occurrences, however, it is fortunately possible to decrease its damages and losses profoundly utilizing proportionate and on time policies and planning. Drought forecasting and management is of great importance in this direction. Therefore, the drought monitoring and prediction can be considered as an important prerequisite by which we can mitigate the impacts and losses of droughts.