Discussions https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2019-138 Earth System Preprint. Discussion started: 7 October 2019 Science c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Open Access Open Data 1 A pan-African high-resolution drought index dataset 1,2 1 1 1 1 3 2 Jian Peng , Simon Dadson , Feyera Hirpa , Ellen Dyer , Thomas Lees , Diego G. Miralles , Sergio 4 5,6 3 M. Vicente-Serrano , Chris Funk 1. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, OX1 3QY Oxford, UK; 4 2. Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany; 5 3. Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Management, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 6 4. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPE-CSIC) Zaragoza, Spain; 7 5. U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; 8 6. Santa Barbara Climate Hazards Center, University of California, USA; 9 Corresponding author: Jian Peng (
[email protected]) 10 11 12 13 Abstract 14 Droughts in Africa cause severe problems such as crop failure, food shortages, famine, epidemics and even 15 mass migration. To minimize the effects of drought on water and food security over Africa, a high-resolution 16 drought dataset is essential to establish robust drought hazard probabilities and to assess drought 17 vulnerability considering a multi- and cross-sectorial perspective that includes crops, hydrological systems, 18 rangeland, and environmental systems. Such assessments are essential for policy makers, their advisors, and 19 other stakeholders to respond to the pressing humanitarian issues caused by these environmental hazards. In 20 this study, a high spatial resolution Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) drought 21 dataset is presented to support these assessments.