Assessing agricultural weather stress indices for optimizing crop resilience across CONUS

The agriculture industry is increasingly challenged by the rising severity and frequency of extreme weather events. To assess the impact of climate extremes on croplands, various weather stress indices have been employed in studies. However, a region-specific index that effectively captures local variations remains lacking. The primary objective of this study is to identify climate-related stressors that impact agricultural systems at a regional scale. To achieve this, we leverage multiple high-resolution, gridded observational datasets of temperature and precipitation, alongside a large ensemble of statistically downscaled global climate models. These datasets allow us to examine the prevailing and future effects of climate change on major cropping regions across the U.S. over the coming decades. Crop-specific resilience and vulnerabilities across the CONUS are analyzed using a weighted averaging technique, which minimizes redundancy and helps create a tailored, region-specific weather stress index. This research will provide valuable insights into the resilience and stability of crops under varying climate conditions across the CONUS. The resulting weather stress indices will be made publicly available through a Climate Atlas, equipping stakeholders with the information needed to make informed decisions.