The drought research initiative: A comprehensive examination of drought over the Canadian prairies

Abstract

The Canadian Prairies are often subjected to drought, and it is sometimes catastrophic. The most recent event occurred over the period 1999-2005, and it produced some of the driest conditions in the historical record. To address such droughts, the Drought Research Initiative (DRI) network was established. The particular focus of DRI was to understand better the factors that led to, sustained and ended this recent drought, including its internal structure, and to contribute to the better prediction of such events. To accomplish this objective, the drought was considered from several perspectives involving the atmosphere, the land surface and sub-surface; the role of vegetation was also considered. This drought was unusual in that its large-scale forcing was quite variable over its duration; regions of record high precipitation sometimes occurred simultaneously across the Prairies, and cloud fields were common. It, nonetheless, produced some of the greatest reduction in sub-surface moisture on record and led to major declines in river flows. The DRI research community from across the country, furthermore, worked closely with many partners affected by the drought so that they are better able to cope with such events in the future. This article provides a brief overview of this drought's characteristics as well as DRI's objectives and key scientific issues. It also summarizes key results from each of the articles in this special issue and ends with comments on DRI's overall contributions.