scholarly journals The Soil Moisture–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (SMACEX): Background, Hydrometeorological Conditions, and Preliminary Findings

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 791-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Kustas ◽  
Jerry L. Hatfield ◽  
John H. Prueger
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Surface States ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hydrometeorological Conditions ◽  
Coupling Experiment

Abstract The Soil Moisture–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (SMACEX) was conducted in conjunction with the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02) during June and July 2002 near Ames, Iowa—a corn and soybean production region. The primary objective of SMEX02 was the validation of microwave soil moisture retrieval algorithms for existing and new prototype satellite microwave sensor systems under rapidly changing crop biomass conditions. The SMACEX study was designed to provide direct measurement/remote sensing/modeling approaches for understanding the impact of spatial and temporal variability in vegetation cover, soil moisture, and other land surface states on turbulent flux exchange with the atmosphere. The unique dataset consisting of in situ and aircraft measurements of atmospheric, vegetation, and soil properties and fluxes allows for a detailed and rigorous analysis, and the validation of surface states and fluxes being diagnosed using remote sensing methods at various scales. Research results presented in this special issue have illuminated the potential of satellite remote sensing algorithms for soil moisture retrieval, land surface flux estimation, and the assimilation of surface states and diagnostically modeled fluxes into prognostic land surface models. Ground- and aircraft-based remote sensing of the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer properties are used to quantify heat fluxes at the tower footprint and regional scales. Tower- and aircraft-based heat and momentum fluxes are used to evaluate local and regional roughness. The spatial and temporal variations in water, energy, and carbon fluxes from the tower network and aircraft under changing vegetation cover and soil moisture conditions are evaluated. An overview of the experimental site, design, data, hydrometeorological conditions, and results is presented in this introduction, and serves as a preface to this special issue highlighting the SMACEX results.

scholarly journals Towards an integrated soil moisture drought monitor for East Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 4587-4631 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. B. Anderson ◽  
B. F. Zaitchik ◽  
C. R. Hain ◽  
M. C. Anderson ◽  
M. T. Yilmaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Data Scarcity

Abstract. Drought in East Africa is a recurring phenomenon with significant humanitarian impacts. Given the steep climatic gradients, topographic contrasts, general data scarcity, and, in places, political instability that characterize the region, there is a need for spatially distributed, remotely derived monitoring systems to inform national and international drought response. At the same time, the very diversity and data scarcity that necessitate remote monitoring also make it difficult to evaluate the reliability of these systems. Here we apply a suite of remote monitoring techniques to characterize the temporal and spatial evolution of the 2010–2011 Horn of Africa drought. Diverse satellite observations allow for evaluation of meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological aspects of drought, each of which is of interest to different stakeholders. Focusing on soil moisture, we apply triple collocation analysis (TCA) to three independent methods for estimating soil moisture anomalies to characterize relative error between products and to provide a basis for objective data merging. The three soil moisture methods evaluated include microwave remote sensing using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sensor, thermal remote sensing using the Atmosphere-Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI) surface energy balance algorithm, and physically-based land surface modeling using the Noah land surface model. It was found that the three soil moisture monitoring methods yield similar drought anomaly estimates in areas characterized by extremely low or by moderate vegetation cover, particularly during the below-average 2011 long rainy season. Systematic discrepancies were found, however, in regions of moderately low vegetation cover and high vegetation cover, especially during the failed 2010 short rains. The merged, TCA-weighted soil moisture composite product takes advantage of the relative strengths of each method, as judged by the consistency of anomaly estimates across independent methods. This approach holds potential as a remote soil moisture-based drought monitoring system that is robust across the diverse climatic and ecological zones of East Africa.

scholarly journals Effects of high spatial and temporal resolution Earth observations on simulated hydrometeorological variables in a cropland (southwestern France)

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 5693-5708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Etchanchu ◽  
Vincent Rivalland ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Jérôme Cros ◽  
Tiphaine Tallec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Area Index ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract. Agricultural landscapes are often constituted by a patchwork of crop fields whose seasonal evolution is dependent on specific crop rotation patterns and phenologies. This temporal and spatial heterogeneity affects surface hydrometeorological processes and must be taken into account in simulations of land surface and distributed hydrological models. The Sentinel-2 mission allows for the monitoring of land cover and vegetation dynamics at unprecedented spatial resolutions and revisit frequencies (20 m and 5 days, respectively) that are fully compatible with such heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. Here, we evaluate the impact of Sentinel-2-like remote sensing data on the simulation of surface water and energy fluxes via the Interactions between the Surface Biosphere Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model included in the EXternalized SURface (SURFEX) modeling platform. The study focuses on the effect of the leaf area index (LAI) spatial and temporal variability on these fluxes. We compare the use of the LAI climatology from ECOCLIMAP-II, used by default in SURFEX-ISBA, and time series of LAI derived from the high-resolution Formosat-2 satellite data (8 m). The study area is an agricultural zone in southwestern France covering 576 km2 (24 km  ×  24 km). An innovative plot-scale approach is used, in which each computational unit has a homogeneous vegetation type. Evaluation of the simulations quality is done by comparing model outputs with in situ eddy covariance measurements of latent heat flux (LE). Our results show that the use of LAI derived from high-resolution remote sensing significantly improves simulated evapotranspiration with respect to ECOCLIMAP-II, especially when the surface is covered with summer crops. The comparison with in situ measurements shows an improvement of roughly 0.3 in the correlation coefficient and a decrease of around 30 % of the root mean square error (RMSE) in the simulated evapotranspiration. This finding is attributable to a better description of LAI evolution processes with Formosat-2 data, which further modify soil water content and drainage of soil reservoirs. Effects on annual drainage patterns remain small but significant, i.e., an increase roughly equivalent to 4 % of annual precipitation levels with simulations using Formosat-2 data in comparison to the reference simulation values. This study illustrates the potential for the Sentinel-2 mission to better represent effects of crop management on water budgeting for large, anthropized river basins.

Evaluation of Assumptions in Soil Moisture Triple Collocation Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1293-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tugrul Yilmaz ◽  
Wade T. Crow
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Correlated Errors ◽  
Cross Covariance ◽  
Mutual Independence ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Triple collocation analysis (TCA) enables estimation of error variances for three or more products that retrieve or estimate the same geophysical variable using mutually independent methods. Several statistical assumptions regarding the statistical nature of errors (e.g., mutual independence and orthogonality with respect to the truth) are required for TCA estimates to be unbiased. Even though soil moisture studies commonly acknowledge that these assumptions are required for an unbiased TCA, no study has specifically investigated the degree to which errors in existing soil moisture datasets conform to these assumptions. Here these assumptions are evaluated both analytically and numerically over four extensively instrumented watershed sites using soil moisture products derived from active microwave remote sensing, passive microwave remote sensing, and a land surface model. Results demonstrate that nonorthogonal and error cross-covariance terms represent a significant fraction of the total variance of these products. However, the overall impact of error cross correlation on TCA is found to be significantly larger than the impact of nonorthogonal errors. Because of the impact of cross-correlated errors, TCA error estimates generally underestimate the true random error of soil moisture products.

scholarly journals Data assimilation for continuous global assessment of severe conditions over terrestrial surfaces

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 4291-4316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clément Albergel ◽  
Yongjun Zheng ◽  
Bertrand Bonan ◽  
Emanuel Dutra ◽  
Nemesio Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Surface States ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Assimilation System

Abstract. LDAS-Monde is a global offline land data assimilation system (LDAS) that jointly assimilates satellite-derived observations of surface soil moisture (SSM) and leaf area index (LAI) into the ISBA (Interaction between Soil Biosphere and Atmosphere) land surface model (LSM). This study demonstrates that LDAS-Monde is able to detect, monitor and forecast the impact of extreme weather on land surface states. Firstly, LDAS-Monde is run globally at 0.25∘ spatial resolution over 2010–2018. It is forced by the state-of-the-art ERA5 reanalysis (LDAS_ERA5) from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The behaviour of the assimilation system is evaluated by comparing the analysis with the assimilated observations. Then the land surface variables (LSVs) are validated with independent satellite datasets of evapotranspiration, gross primary production, sun-induced fluorescence and snow cover. Furthermore, in situ measurements of SSM, evapotranspiration and river discharge are employed for the validation. Secondly, the global analysis is used to (i) detect regions exposed to extreme weather such as droughts and heatwave events and (ii) address specific monitoring and forecasting requirements of LSVs for those regions. This is performed by computing anomalies of the land surface states. They display strong negative values for LAI and SSM in 2018 for two regions: north-western Europe and the Murray–Darling basin in south-eastern Australia. For those regions, LDAS-Monde is forced with the ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) high-resolution operational analysis (LDAS_HRES, 0.10∘ spatial resolution) over 2017–2018. Monitoring capacities are studied by comparing open-loop and analysis experiments, again against the assimilated observations. Forecasting abilities are assessed by initializing 4 and 8 d LDAS_HRES forecasts of the LSVs with the LDAS_HRES assimilation run compared to the open-loop experiment. The positive impact of initialization from an analysis in forecast mode is particularly visible for LAI that evolves at a slower pace than SSM and is more sensitive to initial conditions than to atmospheric forcing, even at an 8 d lead time. This highlights the impact of initial conditions on LSV forecasts and the value of jointly analysing soil moisture and vegetation states.

Revealing the impact of deforestation on hydrology using remote sensing and land surface modeling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel Maertens ◽  
Gabrielle De Lannoy ◽  
Sebastian Apers ◽  
Sujay Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Land Surface Modeling ◽  
Operational Level ◽  
Vegetation Parameters ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level 2

<p>This study aims at better understanding the impact of deforestation on the local hydrology over the Argentinian Chaco, using land surface modeling and remote sensing data. The Chaco is an ecoregion characterized by unprecedented deforestation since the 1980s, mainly for cattle ranging and soybean production. More specifically, default climatological vegetation parameters (LAI, GVF) and static land cover in state-of-the-art land surface models (LSM), grouped within the NASA Land Information System (LIS), are updated using satellite-based dynamic vegetation parameters and yearly land use maps to feed the models with deforestation.</p><p>The presentation will show a spatio-temporal analysis of long-term water budget simulations using a range of LSMs (Noah, CLM, CLSM) in which dynamically updated vegetation and land cover parameters are included. Our simulations indicate that different LSMs result in a different partitioning of the total water budget, but all indicate an increase in soil moisture and percolation over the deforested areas.  Model output is evaluated using in situ soil moisture data, and various soil moisture retrieval products from SMOS (operational Level 2 and SMOS-IC) and SMAP (operational Level 2) and evapotranspiration data from GLEAM.</p>

scholarly journals The Effects of Satellite-Derived Vegetation Cover Variability on Simulated Land–Atmosphere Interactions in the NAMS

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshihisa Matsui ◽  
Venkataraman Lakshmi ◽  
Eric E. Small
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Moist Convection

Abstract Substantial evolution of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NVDI)-derived vegetation cover (Fg) exists in the southwestern United States and Mexico. The intraseasonal and wet-/dry-year fluctuations of Fg are linked to observed precipitation in the North American monsoon system (NAMS). The manner in which the spatial and temporal variability of Fg influences the land–atmosphere energy and moisture fluxes, and associated likelihood of moist convection in the NAMS regions, is examined. For this, the regional climate model (RCM) is employed, with three different Fg boundary conditions to examine the influence of intraseasonal and wet-/dry-year vegetation variability. Results show that a strong link exists between evaporative fraction (EF), surface temperature, and relative humidity in the boundary layer (BL), which is consistent with a positive soil moisture feedback. However, contrary to expectations, higher Fg does not consistently enhance EF across the NAMS region. This is because the low soil moisture values simulated by the land surface model (LSM) yield high canopy resistance values throughout the monsoon season. As a result, the experiment with the lowest Fg yields the greatest EF and precipitation in the NAMS region, and also modulates regional atmospheric circulation that steers the track of tropical cyclones. In conclusion, the simulated influence of vegetation on land–atmosphere exchanges depends strongly on the canopy stress index parameterized in the LSM. Therefore, a reliable dataset, at appropriate scales, is needed to calibrate transpiration schemes and to assess simulated and realistic vegetation–atmosphere interactions in the NAMS region.

scholarly journals AMSR2 Soil Moisture Downscaling Using Temperature and Vegetation Data

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Fang ◽  
Venkat Lakshmi ◽  
Rajat Bindlish ◽  
Thomas Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Black Bear ◽  
Grid Resolution ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Functional Relationships

Soil moisture (SM) applications in terrestrial hydrology require higher spatial resolution soil moisture products than those provided by passive microwave remote sensing instruments (grid resolution of 9 km or larger). In this investigation, an innovative algorithm that uses visible/infrared remote sensing observations to downscale Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) coarse spatial resolution SM products was developed and implemented for use with data provided by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2). The method is based on using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) modulated relationships between day/night SM and temperature change at corresponding times. Land surface model output variables from the North America Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), remote sensing data from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) were used in this methodology. The functional relationships developed using NLDAS data at a grid resolution of 12.5 km were applied to downscale AMSR2 JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) SM product (25 km) using MODIS land surface temperature (LST) and NDVI observations (1 km) to produce the 1 km SM estimates. The downscaled SM estimates were validated by comparing them with ISMN (International Soil Moisture Network) in situ SM in the Black Bear–Red Rock watershed, central Oklahoma between 2015–2017. The overall statistical variables of the downscaled AMSR2 SM validation R2, slope, RMSE and bias, demonstrate good accuracy. The downscaled SM better characterized the spatial and temporal variability of SM at watershed scales than the original SM product.

scholarly journals Improving evapotranspiration in land surface models by using biophysical parameters derived from MSG/SEVIRI satellite

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 9113-9171 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Ghilain ◽  
A. Arboleda ◽  
G. Sepulcre-Cantò ◽  
O. Batelaan ◽  
J. Ardö ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Land Surface Models ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Surface Models ◽  
Vegetation Parameters ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Vegetation parameters derived from the geostationary satellite MSG/SEVIRI have been distributed at a daily frequency since 2007 over Europe, Africa and part of South America, through the LSA-SAF facility. We propose here a method to handle two new remote sensing products from LSA-SAF, leaf area index and Fractional Vegetation Cover, noted LAI and FVC respectively, for land surface models at MSG/SEVIRI scale. The developed method relies on an ordinary least-square technique and a land cover map to estimate LAI for each model plant functional types of the model spatial unit. The method is conceived to be applicable for near-real time applications at continental scale. Compared to monthly vegetation parameters from a vegetation database commonly used in numerical weather predictions (ECOCLIMAP-I), the new remote sensing products allows a better monitoring of the spatial and temporal variability of the vegetation, including inter-annual signals, and a decreased uncertainty on LAI to be input into land surface models. We assess the impact of using LSA-SAF vegetation parameters compared to ECOCLIMAP-I in the land surface model H-TESSEL at MSG/SEVIRI scale. Comparison with in-situ observations in Europe and Africa shows that the results on evapotranspiration are mostly improved, and especially in semi-arid climates. At last, the use of LSA-SAF and ECOCLIMAP-I is compared with simulations over a North-South Transect in Western Africa using LSA-SAF radiation forcing derived from remote sensing, and differences are highlighted.

scholarly journals Towards an integrated soil moisture drought monitor for East Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 2893-2913 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. B. Anderson ◽  
B. F. Zaitchik ◽  
C. R. Hain ◽  
M. C. Anderson ◽  
M. T. Yilmaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Data Scarcity

Abstract. Drought in East Africa is a recurring phenomenon with significant humanitarian impacts. Given the steep climatic gradients, topographic contrasts, general data scarcity, and, in places, political instability that characterize the region, there is a need for spatially distributed, remotely derived monitoring systems to inform national and international drought response. At the same time, the very diversity and data scarcity that necessitate remote monitoring also make it difficult to evaluate the reliability of these systems. Here we apply a suite of remote monitoring techniques to characterize the temporal and spatial evolution of the 2010–2011 Horn of Africa drought. Diverse satellite observations allow for evaluation of meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological aspects of drought, each of which is of interest to different stakeholders. Focusing on soil moisture, we apply triple collocation analysis (TCA) to three independent methods for estimating soil moisture anomalies to characterize relative error between products and to provide a basis for objective data merging. The three soil moisture methods evaluated include microwave remote sensing using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sensor, thermal remote sensing using the Atmosphere-Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI) surface energy balance algorithm, and physically based land surface modeling using the Noah land surface model. It was found that the three soil moisture monitoring methods yield similar drought anomaly estimates in areas characterized by extremely low or by moderate vegetation cover, particularly during the below-average 2011 long rainy season. Systematic discrepancies were found, however, in regions of moderately low vegetation cover and high vegetation cover, especially during the failed 2010 short rains. The merged, TCA-weighted soil moisture composite product takes advantage of the relative strengths of each method, as judged by the consistency of anomaly estimates across independent methods. This approach holds potential as a remote soil moisture-based drought monitoring system that is robust across the diverse climatic and ecological zones of East Africa.

Impact of LULC Changes on LST in Rajshahi District of Bangladesh: A Remote Sensing Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulla Al Kafy ◽  
Abdullah Al-Faisal ◽  
Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan ◽  
Md. Soumik Sikdar ◽  
Mohammad Hasib Hasan Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
The Impact

Urbanization has been contributing more in global climate warming, with more than 50% of the population living in cities. Rapid population growth and change in land use / land cover (LULC) are closely linked. The transformation of LULC due to rapid urban expansion significantly affects the functions of biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as local and regional climates. Improper planning and uncontrolled management of LULC changes profoundly contribute to the rise of urban land surface temperature (LST). This study evaluates the impact of LULC changes on LST for 1997, 2007 and 2017 in the Rajshahi district (Bangladesh) using multi-temporal and multi-spectral Landsat 8 OLI and Landsat 5 TM satellite data sets. The analysis of LULC changes exposed a remarkable increase in the built-up areas and a significant decrease in the vegetation and agricultural land. The built-up area was increased almost double in last 20 years in the study area. The distribution of changes in LST shows that built-up areas recorded the highest temperature followed by bare land, vegetation and agricultural land and water bodies. The LULC-LST profiles also revealed the highest temperature in built-up areas and the lowest temperature in water bodies. In the last 20 years, LST was increased about 13ºC. The study demonstrates decrease in vegetation cover and increase in non-evaporating surfaces with significantly increases the surface temperature in the study area. Remote-sensing techniques were found one of the suitable techniques for rapid analysis of urban expansions and to identify the impact of urbanization on LST.

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