Multi-Satellite Data of Land Surface Temperature, Lakes Area, and Water Level for Hydrological Model Calibration and Validation in the Yangtze River Basin

Abstract

This study shows the feasibility of the combined use of multi-satellite data and an energy–water balance model for improving the estimates of water fluxes over time and distributed in space in the Yangtze River basin. In particular, a new methodology is used to constrain an internal model variable of the distributed hydrological model based on the satellite land surface temperature. The hydrological FEST-EWB model (flash flood event-based spatially distributed rainfall–runoff transformation–energy water balance model) with its energy–water balance scheme allows to continuously compute in time and distributed in space soil moisture and evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes thanks to a double link with satellite-derived data as input parameters (e.g., LAI) and as variables for model states’ updates as the land surface temperature (LST). This LST was used to calibrate the model soil parameters instead of using only dedicated ground measurements. The effects of the calibration procedure were evaluated at four available river cross-sections along the Yangtze River, considering also the presence of the Three Gorges Dam. Flow duration curves were also considered to understand the volume storages’ changes. The Poyang and Dongting Lakes dynamics were simulated from FEST-EWB and compared against satellite water extended from MERIS and ASAR data and water levels from LEGOS altimetry data (Topex/Poseidon). The FEST-EWB model was run at 0.009° spatial resolution and three hours of temporal resolutions for the period between 2003 and 2006. Absolute errors on LST estimates of 3 °C were obtained while discharge data were simulated with errors of 10%. Errors on the water area extent of 7% and on the water level of 3% were obtained for the two lakes.

Assessment of High Resolution Air Temperature Fields at Rocky Mountain National Park by Combining Scarce Point Measurements with Elevation and Remote Sensing Data

“…While air temperature is a measure of how hot or cold the air is, the LST is the radiative skin temperature of the land surface measured in the direction of the remote sensor [17]. However, some studies have developed methodologies to calibrate hydrological models by using LST instead air temperature (e.g., [21,22]). These approximations should be used with caution since the physical processes that both variables can explain (e.g., evapotranspiration or snow melt) can be different depending on the study case.…”

“…This variable is also usually correlated with elevation, and spatially well-sampled. Sometimes this variable is used directly in hydrological applications [21,22], but the difference between LST and air temperature can be considerable [8].…”

Weekly Monitoring and Forecasting of Hydropower Production Coupling Meteo-Hydrological Modeling with Ground and Satellite Data in the Italian Alps

“…The FEST-EWB distributed water balance model [45,46] computes the main processes of the hydrological cycle: evapotranspiration, infiltration, surface runoff, flow routing, subsurface flow and snow dynamics. The model has been proven to be able to reproduce snow and glacier dynamics in the Italian and Swiss Alps [8,39].…”

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Rainfall Anomalies in 1961–2010 in the Yangtze River Basin, China

“…Due to the autumn rain in the upper basin of the Yangtze River in September, the rain belt stayed in the Mintuo and Jialing River Basins. Starting in October, the rain belt returned to the Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake Basins [25].…”