THE USE OF DENSE GPS NETWORK, RADAR TECHNOLOGY, AND AI TECHNIQUES TO FORECAST EARLY-STAGE DROUGHT IN KANSAS

Our research uses GPS network and radar technology to forecast early-stage drought in Kansas using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series analysis approach. The impacts of water deficiency on the state of Kansas cause drought, wildfires, and stress on farming activity. When there's less water, farmers spend ten times more on paperwork, drawdown calculations, and managing what little water they have. It's stressful, exhaustive, and frustrating for the farmers because it's like putting puzzles together when they don't even know the pieces. The research plans to produce a native app and open-source tools to deliver Soil Moisture Content information to the most socially vulnerable communities in the most spatially vulnerable areas. Additionally, we plan to design a tailored curriculum that will include project-based data science and geospatial courses that maintains the student's advocacy on community resilience by presenting their maps to the decision-makers and stakeholders from vulnerable communities.