DROUGHT IS A COMPLEX AND EXTREME CLIMATIC CONDITION THAT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTS THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF ADVERSE IMPACTS ON CROP YIELD, WATER QUANTITY/QUALITY, AND THE ASSOCIATED DOWNTURN IN THE LIVELIHOODS OF BOTH FARMERS/RANCHERS. CLIMATE CHANGE IS INTENSIFYING THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHANGES (E.G., FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, DURATION, SPATIAL EXTENT) OF SUCH EXTREME EVENTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN OCCURRING IN GREATER FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OVER THE LAST CENTURY. THESE LARGE-SCALE REGIONAL TO CONTINENTAL DROUGHT EVENTS HAVE ALSO RESULTED IN A SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC LOSS; FOR EXAMPLE, THE 2014-16 CALIFORNIA DROUGHT CAUSED A SOCIO-ECONOMIC LOSS OF APPROXIMATELY $US2.7 BILLION (HOWITT ET AL., 2014). FURTHER, THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC LOSS HAS DWARFED REGIONAL EVENTS, WITH APPROXIMATELY $249.7 BILLION IN LOST REVENUE ASSOCIATED WITH TWENTY-SIX MAJOR DROUGHT EVENTS OCCURRING SINCE 1980. THEREFORE DEVELOPING ROBUST METHODS FOR DROUGHT MONITORING CAN MINIMIZE ITS IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE SECTORS.