The system combines remote-sensing data onprecipitation, vegetation and atmospheric analysis with macro-hydrological modelling through theuse of a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land-surface hydrological model [65]. The systemtracks hydrological conditions including extremes (e.g. floods and droughts) in near real time andallows medium-term and seasonal forecasting. It therefore provides monitoring capabilities formeteorological, hydrological and agricultural drought and flood conditions, which is particularlyuseful in developing regions where institutional capacity for monitoring and early warning isgenerally lacking and access to information and technology prevents the development of suchsystems locally. In addition, the system has the advantage of providing a standardized format forany of the components of the water balance, thus enabling a comprehensive analysis of droughtand flood hazards at local, national and regional level. In essence, the system providesinformation on precipitation, temperature, radiation and wind speed, drought indicators (i.e.Standardized Precipitation Index - SPI, soil moisture, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index -NDVI, evapotranspiration) and flood indicators (i.e. surface runoff and streamflow). Theinformation can be obtained either spatially or for point locations, for specific dates, months orannual timescales, and is compared with the normally expected conditions or percentiles. Thesystem has been successfully deployed in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa combined withtraining of experts and is used as a complementary information system by regional institutions tomonitor agro-hydro-meteorological conditions particularly during the rainy season.