Drought is one of the major natural hazards, resulting in significant economic, social, and environmental costs. In Europe, water shortage is an important problem in many regions. However, despite the increasing awareness of this hazard, there is no European drought policy and institutional frameworks to cope with drought situations are only weakly developed.
This book is dedicated to furthering our understanding of the drought problem in Europe and to discussing policy and management options to mitigate its impacts. It covers aspects from the detection of water stress to the planning of mitigation strategies. The contributions are written by recognised experts in their field and represent a unique collection of papers on the topic.
Audience: The book will be of benefit to scientists, managers, and politicians involved in problems related to water management, risk assessment, and spatial planning. Students in Earth Sciences, especially in geography, climatology, hydrology, and agriculture, will find useful material in this collection of papers.

From the contents:

Drought Events in Europe Pages
Drought Definition: A Hydrological Perspective
Definition, Effects and Assessment of Groundwater Droughts
Agricultural Drought — A Practical Approach to Definition, Assessment and Mitigation Strategies
Drought Risk in a Changing Environment
Synoptic Situations Causing Drought in the Mediterranean Basin
Streamflow Drought Frequency Analysis
Drought Preparedness in The United States: Recent Progress
The Estimation of Drought Risk in Europe from Soil and Climatic Data
Drought Monitoring and Assessment: Status and Trends in the United States
Comparison of Two Drought Indices for Drought Monitoring in Hungary — A Case Study
Drought Monitoring from Space
Scale Issues in Drought Monitoring
Socio-Economic Aspects of Droughts
Assessment of the Vulnerability of a River System to Drought
Key Elements of Remote Sensing Based Systems for Assessing Drought Impact on EU Agriculture
Drought Mitigation Measures: A Comprehensive Framework
Drought Mitigation Strategies — A Dynamic Approach
Some Lessons Learnt during the Drought of 1991–1995 in Spain
Global Systems Ameliorate Local Droughts: Water, Food and Trade
Decision Processes with Regard to Drought Monitoring and Mitigation
Conclusions and Recommendations