GLOFFIS: our Global River Flood and Drought Forecast Service
The Deltares Global Flood and Drought Forecast Service is an innovative data service that identifies flood and drought risks worldwide up to ten days resp. four months in advance. GLOFFIS users have access to multiple flood or drought scenarios. With these river forecasts, they can take timely precautions to prevent or reduce the adverse consequences of extreme weather events.
Both floods and droughts have the potential to seriously disrupt society as well as the private sector. Impacts are felt by a wide range of businesses including insurance, fast-moving consumer goods, agriculture, energy, supply chain, infrastructure, and finance.
The 1993 Mississippi floods caused a global increase in grain prices. The 2011 Thailand floods led to a worldwide shortage of hard drives, and higher prices as a result. The 2018 drought in Europe caused extremely low water levels on river Rhine, a major transportation artery in North-West Europe. The increased costs of shipping resulted in increased costs of building materials.
Forewarned is fore-armed
Businesses can take measures to reduce the adverse impact of a flood or a drought. For example, supply chain managers may temporarily source from alternative suppliers, pre-emptively increase stocks or pre-emptively ship manufactured goods. Agro companies may decide to plant different crops. Chip manufacturers may purchase cooling water and equipment. Through GLOFFIS, we provide the forecasts needed to inform those decisions.
At Deltares, we have an enormous amount of data at our disposal and decades of expertise in delivering forecasts. We are continually implementing improvements by adding a spectrum of techniques and making our data clearer.
Our data are available for anyone who uses forecasts to make decisions. It is also possible to integrate these data in existing risk-analysis systems.
