No abstract

In large river basins where in situ data were limited or absent, satellite-based soil moisture estimates can be used to supplement ground measurements for land and water resource management solutions. Consistent soil moisture estimation can aid in monitoring droughts, forecasting floods, monitoring crop productivity, and assisting weather forecasting. Satellite-based soil moisture estimates are readily available at the global scale but are provided at spatial scales that are relatively coarse for many hydrological modeling and decision-making purposes. Soil moisture data are obtained from NASA's soil moisture active passive (SMAP) mission radiometer as an interpolated product at 9 km gridded resolution. This study implements a soil moisture downscaling algorithm that was developed based on the relationship between daily temperature change and average soil moisture under varying vegetation conditions. It applies a look-up table using global land data assimilation system (GLDAS) soil moisture and surface temperature data, and advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST). MODIS LST and NDVI are used to obtain downscaled soil moisture estimates. These estimates are then used to enhance the spatial resolution of soil moisture estimates from SMAP 9 km to 1 km. Soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution are able to provide detailed information on the spatial distribution and pattern over the regions being analyzed. Higher resolution soil moisture data are needed for practical applications and modelling in large watersheds with limited in situ data, like in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) in Southeast Asia. The 1 km soil moisture estimates can be applied directly to improve flood prediction and assessment as well as drought monitoring and agricultural productivity predictions for large river basins.

Satellite-based precipitation is an essential tool for regional water resource applications that requires frequent observations of meteorological forcing, particularly in areas that have sparse rain gauge networks. To fully realize the utility of remotely sensed precipitation products in watershed modeling and decision-making, a thorough evaluation of the accuracy of satellite-based rainfall and regional gauge network estimates is needed. In this study, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42 v.7 and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) daily rainfall estimates were compared with daily rain gauge observations from 2000 to 2014 in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB) in Southeast Asia. Monthly, seasonal, and annual comparisons were performed, which included the calculations of correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination, bias, root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). Our validation test showed TMPA to correctly detect precipitation or no-precipitation 64.9% of all days and CHIRPS 66.8% of all days, compared to daily in-situ rainfall measurements. The accuracy of the satellite-based products varied greatly between the wet and dry seasons. Both TMPA and CHIRPS showed higher correlation with in-situ data during the wet season (June–September) as compared to the dry season (November–January). Additionally, both performed better on a monthly than an annual time-scale when compared to in-situ data. The satellite-based products showed wet biases during months that received higher cumulative precipitation. Based on a spatial correlation analysis, the average r-value of CHIRPS was much higher than TMPA across the basin. CHIRPS correlated better than TMPA at lower elevations and for monthly rainfall accumulation less than 500 mm. While both satellite-based products performed well, as compared to rain gauge measurements, the present research shows that CHIRPS might be better at representing precipitation over the LMRB than TMPA.