Harvest hosts collaborator from International Center for Biosaline Ag

NASA Goddard Hydrologic Sciences Lab and Harvest partner Amy McNally hosted a collaborator from the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) over 3 weeks in July. Karim Bergaoui of ICBA is currently the technical lead on the Composite Drought Index developed with ICBA, USAID, USDA and UNL. The focus of Bergaoui’s visit to NASA GSFC was to get updates on the Land Information System (LIS) framework and the FEWS NET Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS). Topics included FEWS NET snow modeling and snow data assimilation, streamflow routing, seasonal forecasting (highlighting work from EOFSAC partner, CHG’s Shrad Shukla), as well as soil moisture data assimilation from Harvest partners John Bolten and Iva Mladenova (article). In addition to learning the latest from NASA partners, Bergaoui had many insights to offer on state of the art, challenges and future plans for hydrologic modeling, drought monitoring and forecasting in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We look forward to continued collaborations with ICBA!