HR: 09:10h
AN: H31E-04    [Abstracts]
TI: On the disaggregation of satellite based passive microwave estimates of soil moisture: current status and future challenges
AU: * Chehbouni, A
EM: ghani@cesbio.cnes.fr
AF: IRD/CESBIO, 18 AVENUE EDOUARD BELIN., Toulouse, HG 31401, France
AU: Merlin, O
EM: olm@cesbio.cnes.fr
AB: Soil moisture is a fundamental state variable that controls several earth surface related processes, i.e. hydrology, meteorology, climate modelling, and agricultural management. However, the spatial and temporal dynamic of soil moisture dynamic is very complex since it depends on several factors such as weather condition, land cover/land use, soil type, topography, geology. Capturing such dynamic requires a dense network of continuous observation of soil moisture which is not feasible. The only realistic possibility for derive continuous spatially distributed soil moisture is through satellite observations. In this regard Passive microwave sensors, especially those operating at low frequencies (L bands) present an interesting potential for monitoring soil moisture. However, the use of coarse spatial resolution of instrument such as SMOS in the field of hydrology is not straightforward. Indeed, the scale at which most hydrological processes occur is approximately 1km or less. It is thus of crucial importance to develop procedures to disaggregate passive microwave based soil moisture from its nominal scale to that needed for hydrological application and/or watershed management. The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of existing and newly developed techniques for disaggregating soil moisture from coarse scale to scale relevant for hydrological application. Ground and aircraft data collected at the Walnut Gulch experimental watershed are used to discuss the performance and the limitation of these approaches.
UR: http:www.cesbio.ups-tlse.fr
DE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0426, 1610)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly