Consultant on Flash Drought

This consultancy involves reviewing the current scientific understanding of flash droughts and developing guidance for monitoring, forecasting, early warning, management, and policy applications. The consultant will work closely with the WMO Expert Team on Drought and contribute to enhancing preparedness and early action under the Integrated Drought Management Programme.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a comprehensive review of existing literature on flash droughts, including definitions, global distribution, and trends in frequency and intensity.
• Define and characterize flash droughts, including temporal, geographic and spatial scales, and identify key drivers/physical processes and their differences in definition, characteristics and impacts with respect to “conventional” droughts.
• Evaluate the compound and cascading effects and impacts of flash droughts including their role in amplifying other hazards as well as their interaction with the rapid transition events and changes from floods to droughts and vice-versa events and their component of simultaneous and sequential compound extremes.
• Provide guidance along the three IDMP pillars in relation to implications on (i) time scales for monitoring and forecasting (role and limitations of S2S forecasting, EW triggers and thresholds and recommended indicators) (ii) policy guidance and planning (differences to traditional policy and management, changes in needs for dynamic drought management frameworks, integration into drought planning) (iii) sector-specific guidance for key affected sectors.
• Formulate actionable recommendations for operational agencies (e.g. NMHS, Regional Climate Centers, WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction system (WIPPS) centers), policymakers and development and humanitarian partners.
• Document case studies on flash drought monitoring, forecasting, early warning and response.
• Prepare, in collaboration with the WMO focal points, the WMO Expert Team on Drought (ET-DRG) and the IDMP Technical Support Unit (TSU), a draft outline of the knowledge product and a tentative list of case studies.
• Submit a first draft of the flash drought knowledge product for a review by the Expert Team on Drought (ET-DRG) and for public review through the IDMP partner network.
• Submit a first draft of the case studies for a review by the Expert Team on Drought (ET-DRG) and for public review through the IDMP partner network.
• Submit a final version flash drought knowledge product with case studies, incorporating comments and feedback received.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in Meteorology, Applied Meteorology, Climatology, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Agricultural Sciences, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in drought management or related environmental fields, with proven knowledge and experience on flash droughts, rapid-onset extremes or climate extremes.
• Experience in drought monitoring, forecasting, and early warning systems.
• Proven track record in developing technical reports, guidance documents, or knowledge products for operational agencies, policymakers, or international organizations.
• Strong understanding of policy implications of drought management and adaptation strategies for dynamic frameworks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent knowledge of English (both oral and written). Knowledge of other official languages of WMO would be an advantage.

Skills

• Meteorology
• Applied Meteorology
• Climatology
• Hydrology
• Environmental Sciences
• Agricultural Sciences
• Drought Management
• Flash Drought Expertise
• Climate Extremes
• Drought Monitoring
• Drought Forecasting
• Early Warning Systems
• Technical Report Preparation
• Guidance Document Drafting
• Knowledge Product Development
• Policy Analysis
• Adaptation Strategies
• Integrated Drought Management
• Scientific Review
• English

Languages

English