HR: 11:35h
AN: H22C-06 INVITED [Abstracts]
TI: Assimilation of remote observations of surface water into large-scale hydraulic models
AU: * Bates, P D
EM: Paul.Bates@Bristol.ac.uk
AF: University of Bristol, School of Geographical Sciences,
University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS
United Kingdom
AU: Wilson, M D
EM: M.D.Wilson@Bristol.ac.uk
AF: University of Bristol, School of Geographical Sciences,
University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS
United Kingdom
AB:
Satellite observations of discharge and surface water storage in a given basin are usually widely spaced in time because of
the long overpass repeat times for sensors designed to give global coverage. In addition, along-track instruments, such as
radar altimeters, may only give a partial coverage of the river basin in space. Such data give an important, but ultimately
limited, understanding of surface water dynamics in large river basins. Two-dimensional hydraulic models provide a potential
method to interpolate discrete observations in both time and space to provide a more highly resolved view of flow that can
be used to drive other process models (for example, models for biogeochemical fluxes). However, the application of such
codes to large basins has been problematic because of a lack of: (1) computationally efficient two-dimensional algorithms
capable of application at global basin scales and (2) topographic data sufficient to parameterize such codes. Both these
constraints have been overcome recently through numerical developments and the release of consistent global topographic data
from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). In this paper, we describe a modelling scheme capable of using the SRTM
data and its application to a 280km reach of the Amazon in Brazil at fine spatial resolution (270m). Remote observations of
discharge and water surface elevation can then be assimilated into the code and used to improve predictions of flow and
inundation at fine space and time scales. We then demonstrate the potential of this model to characterise the value of
remotely sensed observations of water level and inform process studies in large river basins.
DE: 1821 Floods
DE: 1836 Hydrologic budget (1655)
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
DE: 1890 Wetlands
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting