The Use of H-SAF Soil Moisture Products for Operational Hydrology: Flood Modelling over Italy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Data and Methods
2.1. Catchment Selection and Hydro-Meteorological Data
# | Code | Catchment | Longitude E | Latitude N | Area (km) | No. Events | Mean Annual Rainfall (mm) | Temperature (C) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | AN-LN | Aniene at Lunghezza | 12.66 | 41.93 | 984.6 | 5 | 1525.9 | 13 |
2 | BA-MG | Bacchiglione at Montegalda | 11.67 | 45.44 | 1321.3 | 18 | 2759.5 | 10.2 |
3 | BO-AL | Bormida at Alessandria | 8.65 | 44.91 | 2355.8 | 18 | 1157.6 | 11.6 |
4 | BR-BZ | Brenta at Berzizza | 11.73 | 45.78 | 1506.3 | 8 | 2255.1 | 7 |
5 | DO-AV | Dorabaltea at Verolengo | 8.04 | 45.19 | 3640.8 | 11 | 1089.7 | 4.4 |
6 | GO-ST | Gorzone at Stanghella | 11.76 | 45.15 | 1205.8 | 5 | 1901.5 | 13.6 |
7 | MA-CA | Magra at Calamazza | 9.95 | 44.2 | 857.8 | 26 | 2807.7 | 11.3 |
8 | MA-RC | Maira at Raconigi | 7.67 | 44.77 | 967.8 | 8 | 998.2 | 7.9 |
9 | ME-ME | Metauro at Metauro | 12.97 | 43.76 | 1206.4 | 13 | 1617.9 | 12.6 |
10 | PI-PP | Piave at Pontedipiave | 12.45 | 45.71 | 3902.7 | 11 | 2693.3 | 6.8 |
11 | PO-CA | Po at Carignano | 7.69 | 44.91 | 3569.5 | 9 | 993.6 | 8.7 |
12 | PO-MC | Po at Moncalieri | 7.68 | 45 | 4624.1 | 9 | 978.9 | 9.7 |
13 | PO-MR | Po at Torino Murazzi | 7.7 | 45.06 | 4899.9 | 9 | 986.3 | 9.7 |
14 | SA-PA | Sangro at Paglieta | 14.51 | 42.21 | 1522.8 | 4 | 1203.6 | 10.1 |
15 | SE-PS | Sele at Persano Sele | 15.03 | 40.54 | 2057.9 | 18 | 1556.9 | 12.5 |
16 | ST-LA | Stura di Lanzo at Torino | 7.71 | 45.11 | 799.9 | 26 | 1318.9 | 7.3 |
17 | ST-MF | Stura di Demonte at Fossano | 7.72 | 44.52 | 1129.7 | 8 | 1300.7 | 6.3 |
18 | TA-AL | Tanaro at Alba | 8.03 | 44.71 | 3070.3 | 20 | 1170.1 | 8.8 |
19 | TA-FA | Tanaro at Farigliano | 7.9 | 44.52 | 1364.5 | 19 | 1190.2 | 9.3 |
20 | TA-MA | Tanaro at Masio | 8.41 | 44.87 | 4157.4 | 15 | 1085.9 | 9.8 |
21 | TA-MC | Tanaro at Montecastello | 8.68 | 44.95 | 7400 | 14 | 1072.5 | 10.7 |
22 | TA-SM | Tanaro at Asti San Martino | 8.21 | 44.88 | 3229.7 | 14 | 1154.6 | 9 |
23 | TE-MM | Tevere at Montemolino | 12.39 | 42.79 | 4815.4 | 26 | 1341.7 | 12.8 |
24 | TE-PA | Tevere at Pierantonio | 12.38 | 43.26 | 1694.3 | 12 | 1397.7 | 12.2 |
25 | TE-PF | Tevere at Pontefelcino | 12.43 | 43.13 | 1879 | 28 | 1395.8 | 12.3 |
26 | TE-PN | Tevere at Pontenuovo | 12.43 | 43.01 | 3695.3 | 22 | 1379.8 | 12.5 |
27 | TE-SL | Tevere at Santa Lucia | 12.24 | 43.42 | 837.9 | 29 | 1456.9 | 11.8 |
28 | TO-BE | Topino at Bettona | 12.54 | 43.02 | 1054.9 | 24 | 1333.5 | 12.6 |
29 | TO-CA | Toce at Candoglia | 8.42 | 45.97 | 1264 | 17 | 1687.9 | 5.6 |
30 | TR-RG | Trebbia at Rivergaro | 9.58 | 44.9 | 839.5 | 27 | 1735.3 | 10 |
31 | VO-AM | Volturno at Amorosi | 14.45 | 41.2 | 1766.8 | 32 | 1574.4 | 13 |
32 | VO-BE | Volturno at Benevento | 14.77 | 41.13 | 1776.3 | 34 | 1173 | 13.3 |
33 | VO-CA | Volturno at Cancello Arnone | 14.02 | 41.07 | 4877.9 | 9 | 1430.4 | 13.4 |
34 | VO-GZ | Volturno at Grazzanise | 14.11 | 41.09 | 4871.1 | 16 | 1429.8 | 13.4 |
35 | VO-SP | Volturno at Solopaca | 14.57 | 41.21 | 2578.8 | 29 | 1307.2 | 13.3 |
2.2. Satellite and Modelled Soil Moisture Data
Product | Code | Spatial Resolution (km) | Temporal Resolution (days) | Depth (cm) | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SM-OBS-1 | H07 | 25 | ≃1 | 0–2 | ASCAT |
SM-DAS-2 | H14 | 25 | 1 | 0–289 | Assimilation of SM-OBS-1 |
2.2.1. SM-OBS-1
2.2.2. SM-DAS-2
2.3. Hydrological Models
2.3.1. Continuous Model: MISDc
2.3.2. SCRRM
2.3.3. Performance Indexes
3. Results and Discussion
Catchment | Model | Mean | Median | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SM-OBS-1 | 0.452 | 0.298 | 0.401 | 0.558 | 0.269 | 0.367 | |
TE-SL | SM-DAS-2 | 0.427 | 0.368 | 0.354 | 0.555 | 0.394 | 0.268 |
MISDc | 0.556 | 0.259 | 0.180 | 0.770 | 0.228 | 0.121 | |
SM-OBS-1 | 0.744 | 0.223 | 0.253 | 0.790 | 0.229 | 0.210 | |
PO-CA | SM-DAS-2 | 0.692 | 0.213 | 0.305 | 0.808 | 0.084 | 0.277 |
MISDc | 0.805 | 0.135 | 0.146 | 0.836 | 0.090 | 0.102 |
4. Conclusions
- In 35 Italian catchments (800 to 7400 km), satisfactory results can be obtained by the use SM-OBS-1 and SM-DAS-2 within SCRRM providing a median calculated on all of the selected events equal to 0.65 and 0.60, respectively. Similarly, the relative errors in median peak discharge and in runoff volume are 0.35 and 0.29 (SM-OBS-1) and 0.40 and 0.30 (SM-DAS-2). This means that the two products: (i) provide very similar performance and may both be satisfactorily used within SCRRM; and (ii) offer similar information content in flood modelling, which can be efficiently exploited in the context of soil moisture data assimilation in continuous models.
- MISDc generally outperforms SCRRM, except in a few cases. Although this aspect needs further investigation, the reason could be due to the fact that MISDc was run in lumped mode, while SCRRM SM was obtained by averaging the value of SM of different pixels falling inside the catchment boundaries, thus taking more into account for the SM spatial variability. In any case, although the performances of SCRRM are generally lower than those of MISDc (but not by far), they highlight two main interesting issues. First, for operational purposes, SCRRM is expected to be a valuable alternative to a continuous model in poorly gauged areas, since its structure is less sensitive to problems (not rare) of rain-gauge malfunctions and breakage. Second, the satisfactory results obtained indicate that H-SAF soil moisture products have the potential to improve flood modelling if used with more complex data assimilation schemes with continuous models (i.e., by assimilating SM-OBS-1 and SM-DAS-2 products into the MISDc model).
- Median T and z values, (i.e., the parameters representing the influence of the soil depth in the RR transformation) are 48 days and 100 cm, respectively, which are quite reasonable values in Italy.
- SCRRM can be used as a “hydro-validation tool” to assess the performance of different soil moisture products in terms of the ability to reproduce flood hydrographs. This is a new method for validating soil moisture data that has not been used before.
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Massari, C.; Brocca, L.; Ciabatta, L.; Moramarco, T.; Gabellani, S.; Albergel, C.; De Rosnay, P.; Puca, S.; Wagner, W. The Use of H-SAF Soil Moisture Products for Operational Hydrology: Flood Modelling over Italy. Hydrology 2015, 2, 2-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology2010002
Massari C, Brocca L, Ciabatta L, Moramarco T, Gabellani S, Albergel C, De Rosnay P, Puca S, Wagner W. The Use of H-SAF Soil Moisture Products for Operational Hydrology: Flood Modelling over Italy. Hydrology. 2015; 2(1):2-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology2010002
Chicago/Turabian StyleMassari, Christian, Luca Brocca, Luca Ciabatta, Tommaso Moramarco, Simone Gabellani, Clement Albergel, Patricia De Rosnay, Silvia Puca, and Wolfgang Wagner. 2015. "The Use of H-SAF Soil Moisture Products for Operational Hydrology: Flood Modelling over Italy" Hydrology 2, no. 1: 2-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology2010002