Comparisons of remotely sensed and model-simulated soil moisture over a heterogeneous watershed

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Remote Sensing of Environment; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(94)90138-4· OSTI ID:7082872

Lin, D S; Wood, E F ^[1]; Troch, P A ^[2]; Mancini, M ^[3]; Jackson, T J ^[4]

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1. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering and Operations Research
2. Ghent Univ. (Belgium). Lab. of Hydrology and Water Management
3. Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
4. Dept. of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD (United States). ARS Hydrology Lab.

Soil moisture estimates from a distributed hydrologic model and two microwave airborne sensors (Push Broom Microwave Radiometer and Synthetic Aperture Radar) are compared with ground measurements on two different scales, using data collected during afield experiment over a 7.4-km[sup 2] heterogeneous watershed located in central Pennsylvania. It is found that both microwave sensors and the hydrologic model successfully reflect the temporal variation of soil moisture. Watershed-averaged soil moistures estimated by the microwave sensors are in good agreement with ground measurements. The hydrologic model initialized by streamflow records yields estimates that are wetter than observations. The preliminary test of utilizing remotely sensed information as a feedback to correct the initial state of the hydrologic model shows promising results.

• OSTI ID: 7082872
• Journal Information: Remote Sensing of Environment; (United States), Journal Name: Remote Sensing of Environment; (United States) Vol. 48:2; ISSN RSEEA7; ISSN 0034-4257
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540210* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
FLOW MODELS
HYDROLOGY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOISTURE
REMOTE SENSING
SOILS
WATERSHEDS