A review of applications of remote sensing for drought studies in the Andes region

As climate change intensifies, drought events are becoming more frequent and intense in the Andes region. Remote sensing offers new opportunities to characterize and monitor drought and its impacts for the benefit of disaster risk reduction, water governance, and climate change adaptation. However, it remains to be seen the extent to which remotely-sensed data has been integrated into the Andes regional drought literature. Through a semi-systematic literature review, this study evaluates the existing literature in the Andes on the topic, assesses how, where, and the extent to which remote sensing is being deployed in drought studies in the region, and points to key gaps in our regional understanding of this topic of high societal and environmental concern. Remote sensing applications in drought studies remain limited in the Andes but have grown substantially since 2020. The reviewed studies concentrate on Chile and offer new insight into the impact of drought on vegetation, water bodies, the cryosphere, and wildfire incidence. Human activity, through agricultural decision-making and other socioeconomic dimensions, plays a role in propagating or deepening drought in the region. This literature offers new insight into the interplay between different drought types and the role of remote sensing in social-environmental research, although further research across geographies and drought types in the Andes region is urgently needed.