Citizen Observatory of Drought

OCS

National Projects

Project duration:

Nov 2020 to Sep 2021

The Citizen Observatory of Drought is a citizen science project that aims to advance better knowledge of the risk of drought in Spain. The project proposes new tools based on geographic information technologies, web applications and artificial intelligence, aimed at favoring deliberative and collaborative work, guaranteeing active and real public participation, improving decision-making processes in the field of water management and the drought, and, ultimately, improve the necessary dialogue between science, politics and society.

Introduction

The Citizen Observatory of Drought is based on the development of a web geovisor that offers the following graphical and cartographic information:

climate and state of the reservoirs;
from drought impacts;
on planning and management of droughts in river basin districts and urban supply systems;
on the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity indicators that define vulnerability to the risk of drought.

In a first phase, the Observatory focuses on the southern peninsular demarcations: Guadalquivir, Tinto-Odiel-Piedras, Guadalete-Barbate and Mediterranean Basins, with important conditions due to droughts and on which the work team already has extensive experience . Beyond information, following the recommendations of the OECD on public policy, the geovisor will facilitate the consultation and participation of citizens through a series of web applications and artificial intelligence (ChatBot, UserVoice and Story Maps), networks social networks (Twitter and YouTube) and in workshops to generate new knowledge and informed opinions that improve the quality of the public debate on droughts and their management in the near future.