The main objective of this project is to support World Bank Crisis & Disaster Risk Finance activities in the area of anticipatory and/or parametric climate risk financing with tailored data- and research-driven approaches applied to promising satellite-derived datasets that have so far not been considered for operational purposes. In the context of the Next Generation Drought Index project, the World Banks Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance program is developing a technical toolbox to guide users at both micro and macro level through the entire process of data selection, index design, calibration, validation and related methods to strengthen sensitivity analysis and historical skill analysis.

There is scientific evidence about the added-value of satellite-derived soil moisture products to close critical gaps between rainfall anomalies and the response of the land surface. However, a quantitative and qualitative analysis in 2-3 specific areas of interest is required to identify and explain the individual strengths and limitations of different products that may differ in sensor technology (radar/radiometer/combined), method (remote sensing vs. data assimilation), output variable (surface or root-zone soil moisture, soil moisture-based rainfall estimations), timeliness (annual updates vs. NRT products), revisit period (depending on area of interest) and spatial resolution (<1 km to >25 km). Since anticipatory financing mechanisms that decouple insurance payouts from loss assessments are a priority, the work on soil moisture products should highlight the potential predictive skill of various datasets, whereas the integration of both publicly available and, if available, commercial products in the analysis is encouraged.

Funding

The World Bank, opens an external URL in a new window

Project duration

May ­2020 – December 2020

Partners

TU Wien Microwave Remote Sensing Group, opens an external URL in a new window 
CNR-IRPI, opens an external URL in a new window (IT)

CLIMERS role

Predicting NDVI anomalies
Data preparation, validation and visualization

CLIMERS staff involved

Wouter Dorigo
Wolfgang Preimesberger
Laura Crocetti

Project URL

CNR-IRPI project website, opens an external URL in a new window
Project data viewer, opens an external URL in a new window