Drought and water scarcity affect many regions of the Earth, including areas generally considered water rich. The projected increase in the severity and frequency of droughts may lead to an increase in water scarcity, particularly in regions that are already water-stressed, and where overexploitation of available water resources can exacerbate the consequences of drought. This may lead to long-term environmental and socio-economic impacts.

Drought monitoring, forecasting and early warning constitute one of the three pillars of integrated drought management. It is therefore necessary to improve monitoring and sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting of drought and water availability, and to develop innovative indicators and methodologies that translate data into actionable information to support effective drought early warning and risk management.

This session addresses statistical, remote sensing, physically-based techniques, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques aimed at monitoring, modelling and forecasting hydro-meteorological variables relevant to drought and water scarcity. These include, but are not limited to, precipitation, extreme temperatures, snow cover, soil moisture, streamflow and groundwater levels, together with the interactions and propagation pathways linking different drought types across the hydrological cycle. The development and implementation of drought indicators meaningful to decision-making processes, and approaches for presenting and integrating these with the needs and knowledges of water managers, policymakers and other stakeholders, are also addressed in this session. Contributions focusing on the interrelationships and feedbacks between drought, low flows and water scarcity, and the impacts these have on socio-economic sectors including agriculture, energy and ecosystems, are welcomed.

The session aims to bring together scientists, practitioners and stakeholders in the fields of hydrology and meteorology, as well as water resources and drought risk management. Particularly welcome are applications and real-world case studies, both from regions that have long been exposed to significant water stress and from regions that are increasingly experiencing water shortages due to drought, where drought early warning, supported by state-of-the-art monitoring and forecasting of water availability, is likely to become more important in the future.