The proposed project is focused on the application and dissemination of a revised Combined Drought Index (CDI) that is forced with modelled and satellite-derived datasets on precipitation, temperature, vegetation. A new soil moisture component is added to close the gap between rainfall deficiencies, extreme temperatures boosting evapotranspiration and the impact on vegetation and crops. Soil moisture is retrieved from a 32-year climatology that is based on different active and passive space-borne sensors. One big advantage of detecting bio-physical parameters in the microwave domain is that sensors work independently from weather and sunlight. In addition, satellite-derived datasets are able to fill gaps of in-situ measurements via consistent measurements on larger scales. However, retrieval issues are found over snow-covered/frozen soils, complex topography and dense vegetation, such as tropical forests.