Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4806
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4806
03 Nov 2025
 | 03 Nov 2025

Towards an operational European Drought Impacts Database (EDID)

Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsova, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti

Abstract. Drought impact information is essential to move from reactive management to a proactive approach. Data on drought impacts provide regional insight into vulnerability and support robust risk assessment and sustainable adaptation strategies. Drought impact data are also essential to build and validate models for advanced impact forecasting, including AI enhanced tools. While there is increasing consensus on the operational use of specific physical drought hazard indices, to date there is no generally accepted convention on drought impact data collection and use. Based on experience and content of several regional research databases, the development of a European Drought Impact Database (EDID) explicitly aims for operational application within the framework of the Copernicus European Drought Observatory. This article gives insight into the implementation of EDID, its structure and attributes, and provides an analysis of the content. Among the nine impacted systems, agriculture, public water supply and aquatic ecosystems contribute a majority of the impact records. Over the covered time period, impacts became more variable in the system they describe and recent years show some more extremely severe impacts according to a newly introduced severity score. Mapped at country scale, the impacts confirm previously identified European sectorial impact hotspots. The work and product show that regional datasets can be integrated and add valuable information to an international European database. Public accessibility now provides the opportunity for update and improvement by mobilizing the European drought community.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

20 Feb 2026
| Highlight paper
Towards an operational European Drought Impacts Database (EDID)
Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsová, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 845–861, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-845-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-845-2026, 2026
Short summary Executive editor
Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsova, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-4806', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Nov 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Kerstin Stahl, 20 Dec 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-4806', Anonymous Referee #2, 14 Dec 2025
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC2', Kerstin Stahl, 20 Dec 2025

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-4806', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Nov 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Kerstin Stahl, 20 Dec 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-4806', Anonymous Referee #2, 14 Dec 2025
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC2', Kerstin Stahl, 20 Dec 2025

Peer review completion

AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (28 Dec 2025) by Maria-Carmen Llasat
AR by Kerstin Stahl on behalf of the Authors (05 Jan 2026)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (19 Jan 2026) by Maria-Carmen Llasat
AR by Kerstin Stahl on behalf of the Authors (30 Jan 2026)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

20 Feb 2026
| Highlight paper
Towards an operational European Drought Impacts Database (EDID)
Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsová, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 845–861, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-845-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-845-2026, 2026
Short summary Executive editor
Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsova, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti
Kerstin Stahl, Kathrin Szillat, Veit Blauhut, Monika Hlavsova, Lauro Rossi, Dario Masante, and Andrea Toreti

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Short summary
Drought impact information is important for risk assessment. But, there is little consensus on impact datamonitoring. The European Drought Impacts Database (EDID) combines several existing datasets with the results from new searches for impact information in a structured database with spatial and temporal attributes. Allowing research as well as operational use, its contents show where and when in Europe drought has affected agriculture, water supply, ecosystems, and other sectors.
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