Exploring the impact of satellite products on the calibration of the conceptual hydrological model

The observations made from satellite technology enable more and more scientific communities to test and rely on this kind of product. Moreover, data acquired from satellite products is of great use regarding conceptual hydrological modeling. This study represents the process of testing the advanced scatterometer (ASCAT) remote sensing product-ASCAT SWI. In regions with little or no data, soil moisture products have significant value. They represent the relationship between surface and root zone soil moisture as a function of time. SWI represents the soil moisture content equal to a soil depth of 1 meter represented in percentage (%), with a minimum of 0% and a maximum value of soil moisture at 100% of soil capacity. In this study, the tested data in focus are soil moisture data with changing values of modeled water infiltration into the different soil layers (T). In addition to these data, the hydrometeorological data are used for hydrological modeling. These are data from water gauge stations such as runoff values (Q), precipitation (P), air temperature (T), and potential evapotranspiration (PET). All the data used in the hydrological model represent the time series from 01.01.2007 to 31.12.2019. The spatial resolution of the datasets is 500x500 meters, and the temporal resolution is one day. Calibration was performed using the lumped hydrological model developed at Technical University in Vienna-TUWdual. Areas of interest in modeling are selected catchments in Slovakia with various land use and height above sea level. Another aim of this study is to test the correlation between the measured soil moisture and the modeled one using the TUWdual model. The expected outcome of the study should point out the catchment areas that would benefit more from the additional data on satellite soil moisture in Slovakia.

 

Acknowledgment: This study was supported by a Ph.D. student project HYDRODIAĽ.