Agency et al. (2025) Drought impact on ecosystems NUTS2 and NUTS3 (2000-2024)

Identification

• Journal: Publications Office of the European Union
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-11
• Authors: European Environment Agency
• DOI: 10.2909/1e3464c6-63cd-4243-97ae-e5e81df2ecca

Research Groups

• European Environment Agency (EEA)
• European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) - Copernicus EMS European Drought Observatory (EDO)
• Copernicus Land Monitoring Service
• Geographic Information System of the European Commission (GISCO)

Short Summary

This indicator monitors meteorological drought impacts on ecosystem productivity across Europe from 2000 to 2024 by combining remote sensing vegetation indices with soil moisture deficit data at NUTS2 and NUTS3 administrative levels. It quantifies drought pressure and impact areas and intensities annually.

Objective

• To monitor anomalies and long-term trends in vegetation productivity in areas under meteorological drought pressure, specifically assessing drought impacts on ecosystems at NUTS2 and NUTS3 administrative levels across Europe.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Pixel-level calculations aggregated to NUTS2 and NUTS3 administrative units, covering EEA38 and EU27 countries.
• Temporal Scale: Annual monitoring from 2000-01-01 to 2024-12-31, with calculations focused on the vegetation growing season.

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • Soil Moisture Index (SMI) from Copernicus EMS European Drought Observatory (EDO).
  • Soil Moisture Anomaly (SMA) calculated as z-score anomalies from SMI (SMA = SMI - SMIMN / SMISD, where MN and SD are 2001-2020 average and standard deviation).
  • Large Integral anomaly (LINTa) for vegetation productivity, calculated as standard deviations from the long-term mean (LINTa = (LINT - LINT(LTA)) / LINT(std)).
  • Drought pressure defined as SMA(gs) < -1 standard deviation.
  • Drought impact defined as SMA(gs) < 0 and LINTa < -0.5 standard deviation.
• Data sources:
  • Copernicus EMS European Drought Observatory (EDO) for SMI time series.
  • Remote sensing observed time series data of vegetation indices (e.g., Medium Resolution Vegetation Phenology and Productivity product from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service for Start of Season (SOS) and End of Season (EOS) dates).
  • Copernicus Corine Land Cover 2000-2018 accounting layers datasets (used to exclude land use change pixels).
  • Administrative boundaries, Environmental Zones, MAES ecosystem types (derived from Corine Land Cover), and Land cover flows datasets for analytical units.
  • Geographic Information System of the European Commission (GISCO) for annual above-ground vegetation productivity and trends.

Main Results

• The indicator quantifies meteorological drought pressure as a soil moisture deficit (SMA < -1 standard deviation) during the growing season.
• It quantifies drought impact as a severe negative annual productivity anomaly (LINTa < -0.5 standard deviation) that coincides with negative soil moisture anomalies (SMA < 0).
• Provides annual data on the area (in square kilometres and percentage) and intensity of drought impact on ecosystems at NUTS2 and NUTS3 levels across the specified European regions.

Contributions

• Addresses a significant data gap by providing a standardized, Europe-wide indicator for meteorological drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, moving beyond traditional foci on agriculture and water resources.
• Integrates remote sensing-derived vegetation productivity anomalies with soil moisture deficits to robustly identify drought-induced impacts, reducing the likelihood of confounding factors.
• Offers a consistent and annually updated methodology for monitoring ecosystem responses to drought at regional administrative scales (NUTS2 and NUTS3).

Funding

• European Union (for Copernicus dedicated data and service information)
• EEA Management Plan 2025 (Reference code: EEA/INDI/2025/037)

Citation

@article{Agency2025Drought,
  author = {Agency, European Environment and Agency, European Environment and Agency, European Environment},
  title = {Drought impact on ecosystems NUTS2 and NUTS3 (2000-2024)},
  journal = {Publications Office of the European Union},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.2909/1e3464c6-63cd-4243-97ae-e5e81df2ecca},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.2909/1e3464c6-63cd-4243-97ae-e5e81df2ecca}
}