The European Drought Impact Database (EDID) - from Research to Operation

Drought impact data play a crucial role in assessing drought risk, aiding in the determination and validation of warning levels, and predicting potential impacts. Although there is a growing consensus on the operational use of monitored physical drought hazard indices, there is currently no universally accepted convention for drought impact data. This contribution delves into the methodology, development, and content filling of the European Drought Impact Database (EDID), illustrating the challenges involved in transitioning from initial research databases to a database tailored for operational purposes, specifically within the framework of the Copernicus European Drought Observatory. Drawing on previous experience with text-based drought impact reports and regional sector-specific operational impact monitoring, EDID addresses the need for common, yet impact-specific, and information-specific solutions. The conceptual data model for coding text into usable data attributes, such as the impacted system, time, and location of the impact, needed to balance between parsimony and flexibility. The model developed allows for future expansion of sources and links; linked attribute tables enable the storage of source and sector-specific data. The implementation of a new severity score applicable across all nine impacted systems highlights this challenge of finding a balance between commonality and specificity. 

To test the method's applicability, diverse existing databases, including the European Drought Impact Report Inventory (EDII) and regional or national inventories, such as the Czech Intersucho data, were integrated into the new EDID. Additional content was gathered through a semi-automated webcrawl+translation+classification procedure to fill gaps using media reports. The development and content-building of EDID mark significant progress towards a Europe-wide and more consistent collection and archiving of drought impact data. However, challenges persist for the real-time operational use of EDID as an indicator of the situation and for certain future analyses. Drought impact reports often lack sufficiently accurate geographical or time references and other key attributes. The spatial differences in the current EDID database's impact data records content highlight the need for more effective sharing of regional experience and knowledge, serving as examples across larger regions, as well as a  systematic approach to impact data collection. Despite these challenges, the EDID represents a substantial step forward in enhancing our understanding of drought impacts on a broader scale.

This work was part of the project EDORA - European Drought Observatory for Resilience and Adaptation (The European Commisssion DG Environment and Joint Research Centre; https://edo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/edora/)