Drought in Africa is of increasing concern as millions are suffering from malnutrition and difficulty growing crops and supporting livestock. Stunted growth in children due to malnutrition was also recently linked to climate change. Join us as we talk with USGS scientists Jim Verdin, Jim Rowland and Chris Funk about what is being done to help.
James Rowland
Jim Rowland is a physical geographer with background studies in climatology. Rowland has worked at USGS EROS since 1992, supporting geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) applications and capacity building in developing countries.
Jim Rowland is a physical geographer with background studies in climatology. Rowland has worked at USGS EROS since 1992, supporting geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) applications and capacity building in developing countries. He has extensive experience in organizing and providing GIS and RS training workshops throughout Africa, including West, East, and Southern Africa. He has also worked closely with regional Remote Sensing Centers in Africa. Rowland spent one year in Madagascar (he is fluent in French), supporting GIS and RS activities at the Malagasy national forest service and at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Antananarivo (part of an Inter-Agency Agreement between USGS EROS and USAID). For many years at EROS, he coordinated USGS participation in the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) activity. For many years, Rowland managed and supervised the Early Warning and Environmental Monitoring Team at EROS, including projects such as FEWS NET, Vegetation Dynamics (U.S. drought monitoring, phenology studies), United Nations Environment Programme Global Resource Information Database (UNEP GRID), Afghanistan and Iraq spatial data infrastructure and water resources support, West Africa land use studies (land use dynamics and adapting to climate change), and low-head hydropower assessments in South America. Rowland is currently the Principal Investigator for the Early Warning for Food Security Focus Area, comprising FEWS NET, West Africa Resilience, GeoSUR, and Afghanistan activities.
Education and Certifications
MS degree from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) in Physical Geography with emphasis on Climatology.
BS degree in Mathematics from the University of New Orleans
Science and Products
SSEBop Evapotranspiration Data from 2012 to Present: Dekadal (10-day), Monthly, Seasonal, and Annual Time Scales
Drought in Africa is of increasing concern as millions are suffering from malnutrition and difficulty growing crops and supporting livestock. Stunted growth in children due to malnutrition was also recently linked to climate change. Join us as we talk with USGS scientists Jim Verdin, Jim Rowland and Chris Funk about what is being done to help.
A Central Asia hydrologic monitoring dataset for food and water security applications in Afghanistan
Maize yield forecasts for Sub-Saharan Africa using Earth Observation data and machine learning
Enhancing the application of Earth observations for improved environmental decision-making using the Early Warning eXplorer (EWX)
Vegetation monitoring optimization with normalized difference vegetation index and evapotranspiration using remote sensing measurements and land surface models over East Africa
A high-resolution 1983-2016 Tmax climate data record based on InfraRed Temperatures and Stations by the Climate Hazard Center
Recognizing the Famine Early Warning Systems Network: Over 30 years of drought early warning science advances and partnerships promoting global food security
A climate trend analysis of Ethiopia: Examining subseasonal climate impacts on crops and pasture conditions
The climate hazards infrared precipitation with stations—a new environmental record for monitoring extremes
Drought monitoring and assessment: Remote sensing and modeling approaches for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network
Mapping irrigated areas in Afghanistan over the past decade using MODIS NDVI
A quasi-global precipitation time series for drought monitoring
Africa-wide monitoring of small surface water bodies using multisource satellite data: A monitoring system for FEWS NET
Science and Products
SSEBop Evapotranspiration Data from 2012 to Present: Dekadal (10-day), Monthly, Seasonal, and Annual Time Scales
Drought in Africa is of increasing concern as millions are suffering from malnutrition and difficulty growing crops and supporting livestock. Stunted growth in children due to malnutrition was also recently linked to climate change. Join us as we talk with USGS scientists Jim Verdin, Jim Rowland and Chris Funk about what is being done to help.
Drought in Africa is of increasing concern as millions are suffering from malnutrition and difficulty growing crops and supporting livestock. Stunted growth in children due to malnutrition was also recently linked to climate change. Join us as we talk with USGS scientists Jim Verdin, Jim Rowland and Chris Funk about what is being done to help.