HR: 0800h
AN: H51C-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Remote Sensing Solutions for Continuous Rainfall Runoff Modeling
AU: * Milewski, A
EM: adam.m.milewski@wmich.edu
AF: Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, United States
AU: Sultan, M
EM: mohamed.sultan@wmich.edu
AF: Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, United States
AU: Yan, E
AF: Environmental Research, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, United States
AU: Abdeldayem, A
AF: Irrigation and Hydraulics Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt,
AU: Gelil, A
AF: Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, National Water Research Center, Cairo, Egypt,
AU: Markondiah Jayaprakash, S
AF: Computer Science, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, United States
AU: Jones, C
AF: Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, United States
AB: Efforts to understand and to quantify the interplay between precipitation, runoff, and recharge are often hampered by the absence or paucity of appropriate monitoring systems. We developed methodologies for rainfall-runoff and groundwater recharge computations that heavily rely on observations extracted from a wide-range of global remote sensing data sets (TRMM, SSM/I, Landsat TM, AVHRR, MODIS, AMSR, and SRTM) using the arid Eastern Desert (ED) of Egypt as our test site for the time period of 2002-2005. We conducted a two-fold exercise: First, precipitation events were identified from TRMM data and verified using difference images extracted from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (from AVHRR), and soil moisture images (from AMSR) acquired before and after the selected precipitation events. Second, a calibrated catchment-based continuously distributed (over 3 years) hydrologic model (Soil Water and Assessment Tool model; SWAT) was adopted to provide a continuous simulation of the overland flow, channel flow, transmission losses, evaporation on bare soils and evapo- transpiration (ET), surface runoff, and groundwater recharge. Due to the lack of observed stream flow measurements in the Eastern Desert, we calibrated (RMSE: 0.84) our model against observed runoff values (1998-2003) for the Wadi (Nahal) Paran Watershed (3350km2) in the neighboring Sinai Peninsula and Israel. Given the similarities in climatic, geologic, and hydrogeologic settings between the watersheds in Sinai and the ED, the calibrated model was then used to quantify surface runoff and recharge to several of the larger watersheds (Qena: 15738 km2; Asyuti: 6072 km2; Tarfa 4931 km2; and Hammamat: 7745 km2) in the ED. Three-hourly precipitation data were extracted from global TRMM data sets over the watersheds in the Egypt and Sinai using our recently developed Remote Sensing Data Extraction Model (RESDEM). Model results (simulation period: 1998-2000) for rainfall events (5-7) in the study area indicate an average annual rainfall for Qena, Asyuti, Tarfa, and Hammamat watersheds of 14 x 106 m3, 6 x 106 m3, 5.9 x 106 m3, 5.4 x 106 m3, respectively. Only 1-3 percent of the precipitation reached the watershed outlets and recorded average annual surface runoff of 9 x 105 m3, 3.6 x 105 m3, 3.1 x 106 m3, and 2.3 x 105 m3, respectively. Groundwater recharge rates through transmission losses were estimated for the alluvial aquifers within these major watersheds as 6.0 x 106 m3, 5.7 x 106 m3, 2.8 x 106 m3, 2.0 x 106 m3, respectively. Applications utilizing temporal global remote sensing data for conducting continuous rainfall/runoff models on global and regional scales for the past two decades are now within reach.
DE: 1846 Model calibration (3333)
DE: 1847 Modeling
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 9305 Africa
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly