A Google Earth Engine-Based Framework for Drought Monitoring: A Case Study in Hot and Arid Districts of Pakistan

Drought has adverse consequences on arid and semi-arid regions, where water supplies are already scarce. With a diverse climate, a significant portion of Sindh, the southernmost province of Pakistan, is classified as arid and semi-arid regions. Sindh experiences severe water scarcity, erratic rainfall, and prolonged droughts. These challenges affect agricultural sectors, livelihoods, and biodiversity, making sustainable water management essential for the region’s development. These challenges can be addressed by drought monitoring and trend analysis. The Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform offers an extensive set of tool powerful toolkits and an immense repository of geospatial data that can help improve drought surveillance and response. Remote sensing-based indices like Vegetation Health Index (VHI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), and Temperature Condition Index (TCI) are useful indicators for drought monitoring and trend analysis. The main objectives of this chapter are to: (1) quantify the variability and distribution of drought patterns using remotely sensed indices, (2) observe the time series trend with the help of Mann Kendall method, and (3) develop a cloud-based framework on GEE platform to facilitate the assessments of drought impact in Sindh, Pakistan. Drought monitoring apps provide early drought warning systems to mitigate the severe impacts of drought. This study provides spatiotemporal information regarding agricultural drought, and it is essential for policymakers as well as ecological and farming uses.