The D-Risk webtool was developed with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/N017471/1; NE/S013997/1), building on research from the ‘Managing the Risks, Impacts and Uncertainties of droughts and water Scarcity’ (MaRIUS) project (NE/L010364/1; NE/L010186/1; NE/L010208/1 and NE/L010399/1) as part of a broader national Drought and Water Scarcity Programme.
Cranfield University is the UK’s only postgraduate university and 81% of our research was assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in the last Research Excellence Framework (REF). We are ranked in the top five UK universities for commercial income for research. Cranfield Water Science Institute (CWSI) has built an international reputation for its transformational research in the science, engineering and management of water.
Within CWSI, the Water for Food research group focuses on the science, engineering and management of water resources for agriculture. We conduct applied research at the interface between water availability, agricultural productivity and environment within the context of a changing climate and the need for more sustainable agricultural practices. We explore how agricultural systems respond to climate stressors, the impacts of drought risks and water scarcity, from regional to continental scales, and we evaluate the financial impacts of natural hazards on agriculture. We also support the agrifood sector and farm businesses to improve their risk-based approaches to decision-making in water management.
The development team also acknowledges the collaboration and valuable insights from Andrew Blenkiron, Andrew Francis, Tim Jolly, Lyndsay Hargreaves, Paul Hammett, Melvyn Kay, Anne Ramsey, Nigel Simpson, Tim Darby, Rory Callan, Kate Farmer and Bob Hillier.
Ian leads the Catchment Management research group within CWSI and was the Cranfield Principal Investigator for the MaRIUS, HistoricDroughts and AboutDrought projects. His research focusses on understanding the effects of interactions between land management, soil properties and weather on soil degradation, agricultural yields,hydrological response and water quality, under current and future conditions.
Jerry has 27 years international research experience in the science, engineering and management of water resources for agriculture, including assessing the relationships between water resources, crop productivity abiotic risks and the environment, and the sustainability of irrigated production in the context of increasing regulatory and climate change. His research interests are in biophysical and water resource modelling, precision irrigation and climate impact and adaptation in agriculture.
Rishma has experience in assessing hydro-climatic extremes and their impacts, meso-scale hydrological modelling for management of river basins and socio-hydrological modelling for agricultural water management. Rishma has been involved in the development of the latest version of D-Risk. With a special interest in hydrological modelling and agricultural systems, Rishma is currently involved in the NERC funded project “Nexus Thinking for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Andean Countries”.
David worked on the original development of D-Risk and was involved in several projects conducting future demand forecasts for UK agriculture, modelling pollutant concentrations from agricultural run-off, and evaluating the resilience of UK’s fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain.
Lamprini worked on the development of the reservoir module within D-Risk and was involved in several EU and UK RC funded projects assessing drought risks to agriculture, developing strategies for sustainable agricultural production in Malta, and assessing the resilience of UK’s fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain to climate and water-related risks.
George is mathematician at TIAMASG Foundation, in Bucharest, Romania. He has extensive experience in software development and integration, web applications, projecting databases and GIS systems, integrating simulation models, programming, and the development and testing of systems. His main research interest is in applying mathematics and information technology in environmental sciences. He has over 20 years international co-operation experience in national and international scientific research projects.
Mick has been working in IT for over 23 years within the public and private sectors. In his early career he worked on the first ground breaking internet banking solution for First Direct. He provided and delivered demo sites to the the British Prime Minister and Cabinet. He created web applications for both Cranfield University and Effective Web Designs Ltd.
