Larger playa basins and reservoirs in the southern High Plains exhibit similar changes during the same period. Landsat ETM+ imagery registered to the same coordinate system can be used for change detection analysis of surface water availability during drought conditions. Information of this kind forms a valuable supplement to field reports of rain gages, water well levels, stream flows and reservoir capacities.
New monitoring techniques, including enhanced vegetation indices, are in development using data from the Terra MODIS sensor system that will help to develop an even more detailed picture of the Texas drought landscape.
Spotlight 
