Satellite inspired hydrology in an uncertain future: a H SAF and HEPEX workshop

Monitoring terrestrial snow cover on continental and global scales is complicated by large differences on regional and local conditions as well as large gaps in surface observing networks. Therefore satellite-based observations provide the best spatially and temporally extensive means for snow cover monitoring on hemispherical scale.

The objective of the ESA Snow CCI is to generate...

Modelling snow events stayed as challenge as it depends on multiple parameters. For the sake of performance and fewer requirements, temperature-index models employed. These models generally calibrate a basin-wide threshold temperature, a degree-day factor (DDF) which accepted as constant. Some hydrologic models such as Mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM), that employs multiscale parameter...

The observed warming of temperatures in boreal regions in the past decades has led to an increase in the frequency, intensity and size of forest fires with numerous consequences on ecosystems and water budget. Hydrological models can be used to assess the impact of these fires on the hydrological regime, but they necessitate sufficient input data to produce reliable results and ground...

Over the last decades, satellite observations have increasingly been used to study the global terrestrial Water Cycle (WC). We will present here applications to retrieve for instance soil moisture, surface waters or underground water storage. However, the use of satellite products is still limited by their uncertainties and inconsistencies like their inability to close the WC budget. We show...

The flood forecasting component of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service Early Warning System (CEMS-EWS Floods), run at the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), provides medium range flood forecasts at both the European and global scales. Forecast accuracy correlates strongly with accurately representing the initial status of hydrological variables including soil...