Hydrologic Remote Sensing

Capacity Building for Sustainability and Resilience

This book  address the following questions:

1. What are the satellite missions for hydrologic remote sensing measurements?

2. How are the accuracy and uncertainty of the satellite remote sensing estimated in key hydrologic variables such as precipitation, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration?

3. How do satellite-driven hydrologic predictions perform in emerging regions?

4. Can remote sensing data complement or even replace in situ networks to force and calibrate hydrologic models, especially over vast and sparsely gauged basins or even ungauged basins?

5. Can spaceborne streamflow signals compensate for the uncertainty of spaceborne precipitation data to achieve hydrologic prediction skill comparable to results benchmarked with conventional observations?

6. What have we contributed to the hydrologic capacity building over the past decade in emerging regions and over the globe?

In this book, cutting-edge satellite remote sensing techniques and hydrologic, land surface, climate models, data assimilation methods, and capacity building over remote regions are introduced in three sections. Section I overviews satellite remote sensing observations of precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, reservoir, and total water storage. 

Section II reviews various applications of satellite remote sensing in hydrologic/land surface/climate modeling and ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) data assimilation in different regions. 

The first two sections collectively demonstrate the critical potential of satellite remote sensing, hydrologic modeling, and data assimilation techniques in improving societal resilience and environmental sustainability, as it is among the most cost-effective measures to reduce the devastation triggered by hydrologic hazards such as floods and landslides. 

Section III further introduces the development of hydrologic capacity building applications by

collaborating with local stakeholders and decision makers, in order to enhance the preparedness and mitigation of water-related disasters.

In summary, this book presents a collection of recent innovative hydrology-relevant capacity building research conducted on emerging regions with inadequate observations, and hopefully provides a hydrologic research brochure for government officials, researchers, students, and practitioners in hydrology, remote sensing, meteorology, and climate science.

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Hydrologic Remote Sensing