PhD Dissertation Defense – Markéta Podebraska
Developing a Method for Timely Estimates of Annual Forage Production to Inform Drought Decision Making
1:00 pm –
2:00 pm
Contact:
Michael Hayes, mhayes2@unl.edu
High interannual variability of forage production in semi-arid grasslands leads to uncertainty when livestock producers make decisions. To inform
proactive drought decision making at the ranch level, Markéta developed a large scale model that estimates the amount of annual forage production using environmental and weather variables and the remote sensing-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a proxy for grassland
productivity. This model can be used with up-to-date spring climate data and summer climate scenarios (e.g., warm and dry, cool and wet) to
create a range of possible end-of-season forage scenarios in a specific year. When provided on an operational basis, these scenarios can serve as a decision support tool for livestock producers, rangeland managers, and other decision makers.
proactive drought decision making at the ranch level, Markéta developed a large scale model that estimates the amount of annual forage production using environmental and weather variables and the remote sensing-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a proxy for grassland
productivity. This model can be used with up-to-date spring climate data and summer climate scenarios (e.g., warm and dry, cool and wet) to
create a range of possible end-of-season forage scenarios in a specific year. When provided on an operational basis, these scenarios can serve as a decision support tool for livestock producers, rangeland managers, and other decision makers.