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At least 235 records · Page 13

Hierarchical Fractional Advection-Dispersion Equation (FADE) to Quantify Anomalous Transport in River Corridor over a Broad Spectrum of Scales: Theory and Applications

Fractional calculus-based differential equations were found by previous studies to be promising tools in simulating local-scale anomalous diffusion for pollutants transport in natural geological media (geomedia), but efficient models are still needed for simulating anomalous transport over a broad spectrum of scales. This study proposed a hierarchical framework of fractional advection-dispersion equations (FADEs) for modeling pollutants moving in the river corridor at a full spectrum of scales. Applications showed that the fixed-index FADE could model bed sediment and manganese transport in streams at the geomorphologic unit scale, whereas the variable-index FADE well fitted bedload snapshots at the reach scale with spatially varying indices. Further analyses revealed that the selection of the FADEs depended on the scale, type of the geomedium (i.e., riverbed, aquifer, or soil), and the type of available observation dataset (i.e., the tracer snapshot or breakthrough curve (BTC)). When the pollutant BTC was used, a single-index FADE with scale-dependent parameters could fit the data by upscaling anomalous transport without mapping the sub-grid, intermediate multi-index anomalous diffusion. Pollutant transport in geomedia, therefore, may exhibit complex anomalous scaling in space (and/or time), and the identification of the FADE’s index for the reach-scale anomalous transport, which links the geomorphologic unit and watershed scales, is the core for reliable applications of fractional calculus in hydrology.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Satellite imagery of the earth.

Satellite IR hyperaltitude imagery for earth resources application, obtaining geological, meteorological and hydrological information

Cronin, J.↗

Annual Symposium on Machine Processing of Remotely Sensed Data, 4th, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., June 21-23, 1977, Proceedings

Papers are presented on a variety of techniques for the machine processing of remotely sensed data. Consideration is given to preprocessing methods such as the correction of Landsat data for the effects of haze, sun angle, and reflectance and to the maximum likelihood estimation of signature transformation algorithm. Several applications of machine processing to agriculture are identified. Various types of processing systems are discussed such as ground-data processing/support systems for sensor systems and the transfer of remotely sensed data to operational systems. The application of machine processing to hydrology, geology, and land-use mapping is outlined. Data analysis is considered with reference to several types of classification methods and systems.

Morrison, D. B.↗

Agricultural applications for thermal infrared multispectral scanner data

The use of the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data in agricultural landscapes is discussed. The TIMS allows for narrow-band analysis in the 8.2-11.6 micron range at spatial resolutions down to 5 meters in cell size. A coastal plain region in SE Alabama was studied using the TIMS. The crop/plant vigor, canopy density, and thermal response changes for soils obtained from thermal imagery are examined. The application of TIMS data to hydrologic and topographic issues, inventory and conservation monitoring, and the enhancement and extraction of cartographic features is described.

Pelletier, R. E.↗

Use of the NASA Giovanni Data System for Geospatial Public Health Research: Example of Weather-Influenza Connection

The NASA Giovanni data analysis system has been recognized as a useful tool to access and analyze many different types of remote sensing data. The variety of environmental data types has allowed the use of Giovanni for different application areas, such as agriculture, hydrology, and air quality research. The use of Giovanni for researching connections between public health issues and Earths environment and climate, potentially exacerbated by anthropogenic influence, has been increasingly demonstrated. In this communication, the pertinence of several different data parameters to public health will be described. This communication also provides a case study of the use of remote sensing data from Giovanni in assessing the associations between seasonal influenza and meteorological parameters. In this study, logistic regression was employed with precipitation, temperature and specific humidity as predictors. Specific humidity was found to be associated (p 0.05) with influenza activity in both temperate and tropical climate. In the two temperate locations studied, specific humidity was negatively correlated with influenza; conversely, in the three tropical locations, specific humidity was positively correlated with influenza. Influenza prediction using the regression models showed good agreement with the observed data (correlation coefficient of 0.50.83).

public health↗

Remote Sensing Applications for Water Resources Management, Including Droughts, Floods, and Associated Water Cycle Extremes II

Water resources management can benefit from applications of remote sensing and hydrologic models. These tools can be especially valuable during extreme events and in data-sparse regions. Observational platforms include the GPM, SMAP, Terra, Aqua, Landsat, GRACE, and Sentinel satellites, and other satellite and airborne platforms. They can support the operational water resources management community in responding to climate change, increases in climate variability and the frequency of extreme events. This session will highlight advances in the use of satellite, airborne and ground-based sensor networks to: measure the quantity/quality of hydrologic resources in the U.S. and internationally; provide information to water managers to improve water resources management; and support risk-based decision making. Topics of interest include (1) extreme events such as floods and droughts; (2) water supply and snow water resource monitoring and forecasting; (3) evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater, and agricultural water management; (4) water quality and (5) global water sustainability.

Bolten, John D.↗

H53E: Remote Sensing Applications for Water Resources Management, Including Droughts, Floods, and Associated Water Cycle Extremes I

Water resources management can benefit from applications of remote sensing and hydrologic models. These tools can be especially valuable during extreme events and in data-sparse regions. Observational platforms include the GPM, SMAP, Terra, Aqua, Landsat, GRACE, and Sentinel satellites, and other satellite and airborne platforms. They can support the operational water resources management community in responding to climate change, increases in climate variability and the frequency of extreme events. This session will highlight advances in the use of satellite, airborne and ground-based sensor networks to: measure the quantity/quality of hydrologic resources in the U.S. and internationally; provide information to water managers to improve water resources management; and support risk-based decision making. Topics of interest include (1) extreme events such as floods and droughts; (2) water supply and snow water resource monitoring and forecasting; (3) evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater, and agricultural water management; (4) water quality and (5) global water sustainability.

Remote Sensing↗

Nimbus 3 and 4 Observations of Snow Cover and Other Hydrological Features in the Western Himalayas

Photographs from the Nimbus 3 and 4 image dissector camera systems and high resolution infrared radiometers illustrate and demonstrate their applicability in observing snow cover and other hydrological features. This collection of imagery shows the relative merits of daily observations of these features in the visible, near infrared, and far infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum with sensors having nominal spatial resolutions between 4 and 8 kilometers. Particular emphasis has been placed on observing features associated with the Indus River because of the economic and social importance of this in the lives of millions of people. The overall results clearly indicate that it is feasible to monitor quantitatively the extent of the snow cover over the Indus River watershed during a given year and from one year to another using meteorological satellite imagery.

Salomonson, V. V.↗

Investigation of hydrometeorological influences on reservoir releases using explainable machine learning methods

Long short-term memory (LSTM) networks have demonstrated successful applications in accurately and efficiently predicting reservoir releases from hydrometeorological drivers including reservoir storage, inflow, precipitation, and temperature. However, due to its black-box nature and lack of process-based implementation, we are unsure whether LSTM makes good predictions for the right reasons. In this work, we use an explainable machine learning (ML) method, called SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), to evaluate the variable importance and variable-wise temporal importance in the LSTM model prediction. In application to 30 reservoirs over the Upper Colorado River Basin, United States, we show that LSTM can accurately predict the reservoir releases with NSE ≥ 0.69 for all the considered reservoirs despite of their diverse storage sizes, functionality, elevations, etc. Additionally, SHAP indicates that storage and inflow are more influential than precipitation and temperature. Moreover, the storage and inflow show a relatively long-term influence on the release up to 7 days and this influence decreases as the lag time increases for most reservoirs. These findings from SHAP are consistent with our physical understanding. However, in a few reservoirs, SHAP gives some temporal importances that are difficult to interpret from a hydrological point of view, probably because of its ignorance of the variable interactions. SHAP is a useful tool for black-box ML model explanations, but the hydrological processes inferred from its results should be interpreted cautiously. More investigations of SHAP and its applications in hydrological modeling is needed and will be pursued in our future study.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

CLM5 CAMELS Basins Ensemble

Land surface models such as Community Land Model Version 5 (CLM5) are essential tools for simulating the behaviors of the terrestrial system. Despite the extensive application of CLM5, limited attention has been paid to the underlying uncertainties associated with its hydrologic parameters and the implications that these uncertainties have on water resources applications. To address this long-standing issue, we conduct a comprehensive hydrologic parameter uncertainty characterization (UC) of CLM5 over the hydroclimatic gradients of the Conterminous United States using five meteorological datasets. Key datasets produced from the UC experiment include a benchmark dataset of CLM5 default hydrological performance, parameter sensitivity identified for 28 hydrological metrics, and large ensemble outputs for hydrological predictions. The presented datasets can assist CLM5 calibration and to support broad applications such as evaluating vulnerabilities to droughts and floods. The dataset can be used to identify under what hydroclimate conditions parametric uncertainties demonstrate substantial effects on hydrological predictions and clarify where further investigations are needed to understand how land runoff uncertainties interact with other Earth system processes. Please refer to the included README.pdf for a description of the included files. Note that raw CLM5 model outputs for each forcing dataset are hosted on a Globus endpoint: https://app.globus.org/file-manager?destination_id=d22ef858-27b0-11ed-a910-fd3165076336.

Yan, Hongxiang↗

CLM5 CAMELS Basins Ensemble

Land surface models such as Community Land Model Version 5 (CLM5) are essential tools for simulating the behaviors of the terrestrial system. Despite the extensive application of CLM5, limited attention has been paid to the underlying uncertainties associated with its hydrologic parameters and the implications that these uncertainties have on water resources applications. To address this long-standing issue, we conduct a comprehensive hydrologic parameter uncertainty characterization (UC) of CLM5 over the hydroclimatic gradients of the Conterminous United States using five meteorological datasets. Key datasets produced from the UC experiment include a benchmark dataset of CLM5 default hydrological performance, parameter sensitivity identified for 28 hydrological metrics, and large ensemble outputs for hydrological predictions. The presented datasets can assist CLM5 calibration and to support broad applications such as evaluating vulnerabilities to droughts and floods. The dataset can be used to identify under what hydroclimate conditions parametric uncertainties demonstrate substantial effects on hydrological predictions and clarify where further investigations are needed to understand how land runoff uncertainties interact with other Earth system processes. Please refer to the README.pdf for a description of the included files. Note that raw CLM5 model outputs for each forcing dataset are hosted on a Globus endpoint: https://app.globus.org/file-manager?destination_id=d22ef858-27b0-11ed-a910-fd3165076336.

Yan, Hongxiang↗

Airborne lidar experiments at the Savannah River Plant

The results of remote sensing experiments at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Nuclear Facility utilizing the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) are presented. The flights were conducted in support of the numerous environmental monitoring requirements associated with the operation of the facility and for the purpose of furthering research and development of airborne lidar technology. Areas of application include airborne laser topographic mapping, hydrologic studies using fluorescent tracer dye, timber volume estimation, baseline characterization of wetlands, and aquatic chlorophyll and photopigment measurements. Conclusions relative to the usability of airborne lidar technology for the DOE for each of these remote sensing applications are discussed.

Krabill, William B.↗

A Multicomponent Reactive Transport Model for Integrated Surface‐Subsurface Hydrology Problems

Abstract Despite the widespread use of integrated hydrology models in a variety of applications, consideration of multicomponent reactive transport is still not common. The implementation of these processes requires coupling transport at the surface‐subsurface interface and efficient solution of the non‐linear geochemical model that is consistent with the integrated hydrology solution. The Advanced Terrestrial Simulator provides a flexible multiphysics framework that facilitated this process. In this work, the integrated reactive transport process kernel (PK) was weakly coupled to the integrated hydrology PK. In turn, integrated transport and reactions were coupled using an operator splitting approach. This splitting enabled an explicit solution of the integrated transport problem, including a novel algorithm to calculate exchange fluxes across the surface‐subsurface interface and a point‐by‐point solution of the geochemical problem. Geochemical capabilities were added using well‐established external codes, but rather than using a custom interface to each, a generic interface was used that clearly specifies the variables and operations used by the chemistry PK. The implementation is demonstrated with two example simulations: transport of a tracer in a soil column as it saturates over time and water ponds on the surface and reactive transport in a hillslope driven by successive wet‐dry cycles that result in infiltration, runoff and exfiltration processes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Application of ERTS-1 imagery in the fields of geology, agriculture, forestry, and hydrology to selected test sites in Iran

The preliminary study of the ERTS-1 imagery coverage of Iran, commenced on October 26, 1972. All of the images were carefully examined, and a photomosaic covering approximately ninety-five per cent of the country was prepared. A number of images of selected areas were studied in detail. In the field of geology, a number of large scale faults were identified, which do not figure on geological maps. Furthermore, a preliminary study was carried out on the recent sediments, their possible sources, and origin. A limited number of geological work maps were prepared as well. In the fields of agriculture and forestry, studies based on color composite prints of certain areas were undertaken, with a purpose of identifying potential arable areas. Investigations in the field of water resources resulted in the discovery of a number of small lakes, and streams. Furthermore, fluctuations of the water level in some lakes were observed.

Ebtehadj, K.↗

Assimilation of Sentinel 1 and SMAP – Based Satellite Soil Moisture Retrievals into SWAT Hydrological Model: the Impact of Satellite Revisit Time and Product Spatial Resolution on Flood Simulations in Small Basins

In runoff generation process, soil moisture plays an important role as it controls the magnitude of the flood events to the rainfall inputs. In this study, we investigated the ability of a new era of satellite soil moisture retrievals to improve the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) daily discharge simulations via soil moisture data assimilation for two small (< 500 km2) and hydrologically different catchments located in Central Italy. We ingested 1) the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Enhanced L3 Radiometer Global Daily 9 km EASE-Grid soil moisture, 2) the Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT) H113 soil moisture product released within the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management (H-SAF) which has a nearly daily temporal resolution and sampling of 12.5 km, and 3) a fused ASCAT/Sentinel-1 (S1) satellite soil moisture product named SCATSAR-SWI with temporal and spatial sampling of 1 day and 1 km, respectively into SWAT hydrological model via Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF). Different configurations were tested with the aim of exploring the effect of the hydrological regime, the land use conditions, the spatial sampling and the revisit time of the products (which controls the amount of available data to be potentially ingested). Results show a general improvement of SWAT discharge simulations for all products in terms of error and Nash Sutcliffe efficiency index. In particular, we found a relatively good behavior of both the active and the passive products in terms of low flows improvement especially for the catchment characterized by a higher baseflow component. The benefit of the higher spatial resolution of SCATSAR obtained via S1 over ASCAT was small likely due to very challenging areas for S1 retrieval. Eventually, better performances were obtained for the passive product in the more forested catchment. With the aim of exploring the benefit of having more frequent satellite soil moisture observations to be ingested, we tested the performance of the ASCAT product with a reduced temporal sampling obtained by temporally matching ASCAT observations to that of SMAP. The results show a significant reduction of the performance of ASCAT, suggesting that the correction frequency (due to the higher number of observations available) for small catchments is an important aspect for improving flood forecasting as it helps to adjust more frequently the soil moisture pre-storm conditions.

Small basins↗

Assimilation of Sentinel 1 and SMAP–based satellite soil moisture retrievals into SWAT hydrological model: the impact of satellite revisit time and product spatial resolution on flood simulations in small basins

In runoff generation process, soil moisture plays an important role as it controls the magnitude of the flood events in response to the rainfall inputs. In this study, we investigated the ability of a new era of satellite soil moisture retrievals to improve the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) daily discharge simulations via soil moisture data assimilation for two small (< 500 km2) and hydrologically different catchments located in Central Italy. We ingested 1) the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Enhanced L3 Radiometer Global Daily 9 km EASE-Grid soil moisture, 2) the Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT) H113 soil moisture product released within the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management (HSAF) which has a nearly daily temporal resolution and sampling of 12.5 km, and 3) a fused ASCAT/Sentinel-1 (S1) satellite soil moisture product named SCATSAR-SWI with temporal and spatial sampling of 1 day and 1 km, respectively into SWAT hydrological model via the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF). Different configurations were tested with the aim of exploring the effect of the hydrological regime, the land use conditions, the spatial sampling and the revisit time of the products (which controls the amount of available data to be potentially ingested). Results show a general improvement of SWAT discharge simulations for all products in terms of error and Nash Sutcliffe efficiency index. In particular, we found a relatively good behavior of both the active and the passive products in terms of low flows improvement especially for the catchment characterized by a higher baseflow component. The benefit of the higher spatial resolution of SCATSAR-SWI obtained via S1 over ASCAT was small, likely due to very challenging areas for the S1 retrieval. Eventually, better performances were obtained for the passive product in the more forested catchment. With the aim of exploring the benefit of having more frequent satellite soil moisture observations to be ingested, we tested the performance of the ASCAT product with a reduced temporal sampling obtained by temporally matching ASCAT observations to that of SMAP. The results show a significant reduction of the performance of ASCAT, suggesting that the correction frequency (due to the higher number of observations available) for small catchments is an important aspect for improving flood forecasting as it helps to adjust more frequently the pre-storm soil moisture conditions.

Shima Azimi↗