Yale CEA Debuts International Drought Resilience Observatory
The Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA) has recently unveiled the prototype International Drought Resilience Observatory (IDRO), developed for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as part of the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA). The Observatory debuted in Riyadh at UNCCD COP16, in December 2024. The full version of IDRO is scheduled for release at UNCCD COP17, to be hosted in Mongolia in 2026.
“Although a wealth of knowledge is emerging on drought resilience globally, it tends to be scattered and difficult to access,” says Anna Dyson, CEA director and Hines Professor of Sustainable Architectural Design at Yale. “The Observatory will enable quick access to the diverse expertise and tools needed to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to drought challenges. Connecting insights with powerful analytics, it delivers timely, actionable information while addressing critical gaps in risk and adaptive strategies.”
The Observatory is the first global AI-powered data platform for drought management. It relies on different sources: users who input data from their own countries and contexts; global datasets like those of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation program; and outputs from remote-sensing tools, particularly helpful for the data poor.
The Observatory allows officials and decision-makers to run simulations and create visualizations based on different variables to determine their level of preparedness for drought and its extended effects on government, economy, and society while building consensus around proactive solutions. Meanwhile the CEA team is moving into a new lab on Howe Street, which will house the latest iteration of its Built Environment Ecosystem Measurements (BEEM) Lab, teaching spaces, offices, and workspaces for postdoctoral fellows and PhD students in the Ecosystems in Architectural Sciences program.
