PhD Defence Clara Lines Diaz

The title of her thesis is:
Usefulness of Information for Drought Management Decisions: Data and User Perspectives

Research Summary

This thesis examines how information can benefit drought management decisions at the basin scale through three perspectives: a data-centric perspective, assessing the ability of remotely sensed datasets to detect drought early enough to inform operational water management practices; a user-centric perspective, identifying the information use and needs of farmers and reservoir operators water allocation decisions and modelling the value of information to these decisions; and a combined approach, assessing the usefulness of seasonal forecasts of water availability to support water allocation decisions in irrigated agriculture.

These perspectives show that multiple factors influence the usefulness of information. Notably, the ability to provide the timely observations or predictions needed by decision-maker, and their capacity to change the course of action accordingly. Results indicate that these factors depend on the options available to the decision-maker, which may vary depending on their level of risk aversion and technical abilities, as well as the context of the decision. Changes in the market value of goods or weather variability may also impact the usefulness of information.

Bringing these perspectives and their respective methods together contributes to filling the gap between technical and human-centred approaches in assessing the usefulness of information for drought management decisions.

Livestream

Below you can find the schedule:

12.00 – 12.15              Presentation

12.30 – 14.00              Public defence & Awarding ceremony

Live Stream link: to be provided later