Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net
1027-5606
1607-7938
12
3
2008
10.5194/hess-12-751-2008
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/751/2008/
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/751/2008/hess-12-751-2008.html
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/751/2008/hess-12-751-2008.pdf
751
767
2008-05-23
Comparison of soil moisture fields estimated by catchment modelling and remote sensing: a case study in South Africa
T. Vischel
theo.vischel@hmg.inpg.fr
G. G. S. Pegram
S. Sinclair
W. Wagner
A. Bartsch
Civil Engineering Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vienna University of Technology, Austria
now at: Laboratoire d'étude des Transferts en Hydrologie et Environnement (UMR 5564), 38000 Grenoble, France
The paper compares two independent approaches to estimate soil moisture at
the regional scale over a 4625 km<sup>2</sup> catchment (Liebenbergsvlei, South
Africa). The first estimate is derived from a physically-based hydrological
model (TOPKAPI). The second estimate is derived from the scatterometer on
board the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS). Results show a good
correspondence between the modelled and remotely sensed soil moisture,
particularly with respect to the soil moisture dynamic, illustrated over two
selected seasons of 8 months, yielding regression <i>R</i><sup>2</sup> coefficients lying
between 0.68 and 0.92. Such a close similarity between these two different,
independent approaches is very promising for (i) remote sensing in general
(ii) the use of hydrological models to back-calculate and disaggregate the
satellite soil moisture estimate and (iii) for hydrological models to
assimilate the remotely sensed soil moisture.
Beven, K.: TOPMODEL: a critique, Hydrol. Process., 11(9), 1069–1086, 1997.
Beven, K. and Kirkby, M.: A physically-based variable contributing area model of basin hydrology, Hydrol. Sci. Bull., 24, 43–69, 1979.
Biftu, G. F. and Gan, T. Y.: Semi-distributed, physically based, hydrologic modeling of the Paddle River Basin, Alberta, using remotely sensed data, J. Hydrol., 244, 137–156, 2001.
Blyth, E.: Modelling soil moisture for a grassland and a woodland site in south-east England, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 6(1), 39–47, 2002.
Brooks, R. H. and Corey, A. T.: Hydraulic properties of porous media, Hydrology papers, No 3, Colorado State University, Colorado, 1964.
Bruckler, L. and Witono, H.: Use of remotely sensed soil moisture content as boundary conditions in soil-atmosphere water transport modeling. 2. Estimating soil water balance, Water Resour. Res., 25, 2437–2447, 1989.
Ceballos, A., Scipal, K., Wagner, W., and Martínez-Fernández, J.: Validation of ERS scatterometer-derived soil moisture data over the central part of the Duero Basin, Spain, Hydrol. Process., 19, 1549–1566, doi:10.1002/hyp.5585, 2005.
Chow, V. T., Maidment, D. R., and Mays, L. R.: Applied Hydrology, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1988.
Crow, W. T. and Zhan, X.: Continental-scale evaluation of remotely sensed soil moisture products, IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Letters, 4(3), 451–455, 2007.
Dirmeyer, P. A., Guo, Z. C., and Gao X.: Comparison, validation, and transferability of eight multiyear global soil wetness products, J. Hydrometeorol., 5(6), 1011–1033, 2004.
De Lannoy, G. J. M., Verhoest, N. E. C., Houser, P. R., Gish, T. J., and Meirvenne, M.: Spatial and temporal characteristics of soil moisture in an intensively monitored agricultural field (OPE3), J. Hydrol., 331, 719–730, 2006.
DLSI: A digital elevation model for South Africa, Directorate of Land Surveys and Information, South Africa, 1996.
Drusch, M., Wood, E. F., Gao, H., and Thiele, A.: Soil moisture retrieval during the Southern Great Plains Hydrology Experiment 1999: A comparison between experimental remote sensing data and operational products, Water Resour. Res., 40(2), W02504, doi:10.1029/2003WR002441, 2004.
Dunne, T.: Field studies of hillslope flow process, Hillslope Hydrology, edited by: Kirkby, M. J., Wiley, New York, 227–293, 1978.
Entekhabi, D., Rodriguez-Iturbe, I., and Castelli, F.: Mutual interaction of soil moisture state and atmospheric processes, J. Hydrol., 184, 3–17, 1996.
Gerald, C. F. and Wheatley, P. O.: Applied numerical analysis, 4th Ed., Addison-Wesley, 1992.
GLCC: Global Land Cover Characteristics. United States Geological Survey (USGS), http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc, 1997.
Grayson, R. B, Western, A. W., and Chiew, F. H. S.: Preferred states in spatial soil moisture patterns: Local and nonlocal controls, Water Resour. Res., 33(12), 2897–2908, 1997.
Hébrard, O., Voltz, M., Andrieux, P., and Moussa, R.: Spatio-temporal distribution of soil surface moisture in a heterogeneously farmed Mediterranean catchment, J. Hydrol., 329, 110–121, 2006.
Hodnett, M. G. and Bell, J. P.: Soil moisture investigations of groundwater recharge through black cotton soils in Madhya Pradesh, India, Hydrol. Sci. J., 31(3), 361–381, 1986.
Houser, P. R., Shuttleworth, W. J., Famiglietti, J. S., Gupta, H. V., Syed, K. H., and Goodrich, D. C.: Integration of soil moisture remote sensing and hydrologic modeling using data assimilation, Water Resour. Res., 34(12), 3405–3420, 1998.
Kostov, K. G. and Jackson, T. J.: Estimating profile soil moisture from surface layer measurements – a review, Proceedings of the international Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), Orlando, 11–14 April, 125–136, 1993.
Liu, Z. and Todini, E.: Towards a comprehensive physically-based rainfall-runoff model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 6(5), 859–881, 2002.
Liu, Z., Martina, M. L. V., and Todini, E.: Flood forecasting using a fully distributed model: application of the TOPKAPI model to the Upper Xixian catchment, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 347–364, 2005
Maidment, D. R.: Handbook of hydrology, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993.
Martina, M. L. V.: The distributed physically based modelling of the rainfall-runoff process, PhD Thesis, University of Bologna, 2004.
McKenzie, R. S. and Craig, A. R.: Evaporation losses from South African rivers, WRC Report no 638/1/99, Pretoria, Water Research Commission (South Africa), 1999.
McNamara, J. P., Chandler, D., Seyfried, M., and Achet, S.: Soil moisture states, lateral flow, and streamflow generation in a semi-arid, snowmelt-driven catchment, Hydrol. Process., 19, 4023–4038, 2005.
Merz, B. and Plate, E. J.: An analysis of the effect of spatial variability of soil and soil moisture on runoff, Water Resour. Res., 33, 2909–2922, 1997.
Midgley, D. C., Pitman, W. V., and Middleton, B. J.: Surface water resources of South Africa 1990, Water Research Commission, Report No. 298/2.2/94, 1994.
Ottlé, C. and Vidal-Madjar, D.: Assimilation of soil moisture inferred from infrared remote sensing in a hydrological model over the HAPEX-MOBILHY region, J. Hydrol., 158(3–4), 241–264, 1994.
Parajka, J., Naeimi, V., Blöschl, G., Wagner, W., Merz, R., and Scipal, K.: Assimilating scatterometer soil moisture data into conceptual hydrological models at the regional scale, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 353–368, 2006.
Pauwels, V. R. N., Hoeben, R., Verhoest, N. E. C., De Troch, F. P., and De Troch, P. A.: Improvement of TOPLATS-based discharge predictions through assimilation of ERS-based remotely sensed soil moisture values, Hydrol. Process., 16, 995–1013, 2002.
Pellarin, T., Calvet, J.-C., and Wagner, W.: Evaluation of ERS scatterometer soil moisture products over a half-degree region in southwestern France, Geophy. Res. Lett., 33, L17401, doi:10.1029/2006GL027231, 2006.
Pellenq, J., Kalma, J., Boulet, G., Saulnier, G.-M., Wooldridge, S., Kerr, Y., and Chehbouni, A.: A disaggregation scheme for soil moisture based topography and soil depth, J. Hydrol., 276, 112–127, 2003.
Reichle, R. H., Mc Laughlin, D. B., and Entekhabi, D.: Variational data assimilation of microwave radiobrightness observations for land surface hydrology applications, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, 39(8), 1708–1718, 2001.
Rodriguez-Iturbe I.: Ecohydrology: a hydrologic perspective of climate-soil-vegetation dynamics, Water Resour. Res., 36, 3–9, 2000.
SIRI: Land Type Series. Department of Agriculture and Water Supply, Soil and Irrigation Research Institute, Memoirs on the Agricultural Natural Resources of South Africa, Pretoria, 1987.
Strahler, A. N.: Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, 38, 913–920, 1957.
Vieux, B. E., Cui, Z., and Gaur, A.: Evaluation of a physics-based distributed hydrologic model for flood forecasting, J. Hydrol., 298, 155–177, 2004.
Wagner, W., Noll, G., Borgeaud, M., and Rott, H.: Monitoring soil moisture over the Canadian prairies with ERS scatterometer, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 37(1), 200–216, 1999a.
Wagner, W., Lemoine, G., Borgeaud, M., and Rott, H.: A study of vegetation cover effects on ERS scatterometer data, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 37(2), 938–948, 1999b.
Wagner, W., Lemoine, G., and Rott, H.: A method for estimating soil moisture from ERS scatterometer and soil data, Remote Sens. Environ., 70, 191–207, 1999c.
Wagner, W., Scipal, K., Pathe, C., Gerten, D., Lucht, W., and Rudolf, B.: Evaluation of the agreement between the first global remotely sensed soil moisture data with model and precipitation data, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 108(D19), 4611, doi:10.1029/2003JD003663, 2003.
Wagner, W., Blöschl, G., Pampaloni, P., Calvet, J.-C., Bizzarri, B., Wigneron, J.-P., and Kerr, Y.: Operational readiness of microwave remote sensing of soil moisture for hydrologic applications, Nord. Hydrol., 38(1), 1–20, 2007.
Walker, J. P., Willgoose, G. R., and Kalma, J. D.: One-dimensional soil moisture profile retrieval by assimilation of near-surface observations: a comparison of retrieval algorithms, Adv. Water Resour., 24, 631–650, 2001.
Wechsler, S. P.: Uncertainties associated with digital elevation models for hydrologic applications: a review, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1481–1500, 2007.
Wesson, S. M. and Pegram, G. G. S.: Improved radar rainfall estimation at ground level, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 6, 323–342, 2006.
Western, A. W. and Blöschl, G.: On the spatial scaling of soil moisture, J. Hydrol., 217, 203–224, 1999.
Western, A. W., Grayson, R. B., and Blöschl, G.: Scaling of soil moisture: a hydrologic perspective, Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 30, 149–180, 2002.