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Title: POTENTIAL ROLE OF PASSIVE MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING IN FLOOD FORECASTING

Author
item BINDLISH, RAJAT - SSAI
item Crow, Wade
item Jackson, Thomas

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2004
Publication Date: 10/1/2004
Citation: Bindlish, R., Crow, W.T., Jackson, T.J. 2004. Potential role of passive microwave remote sensing in flood forecasting [abstract]. NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Workshop (THP). 2004 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The potential of using satellite based microwave observations of soil moisture to improve flood predictability was explored during a specific major flood event. Accurate knowledge of regional-scale soil moisture contributes significantly to forecasting skill for regional-scale flooding events occurring over time scales of days to weeks and remote sensing observations could add skill to predictions of flood peak timing and magnitude. Here, data from the Advanced Microwave Sensing Radiometer (AMSR-E) was used to demonstrate the potential of remotely sensed soil moisture in flood forecasting applications. The current study demonstrates the potential of these observations to predicting the floods in northeastern Australia (Queensland) during January-February 2004. There is a clear signal expressed by low brightness temperatures (i.e. highest soil moistures) over the affected areas preceding the peak streamflow conditions. That is, the inundated land surface conditions displayed are a detectable precursor to subsequent downstream flooding. Preliminary results indicate that the use of remotely sensed passive microwave observations may enhance marginal forecasting skill for regional scale flooding events beyond what is possible using only rainfall observations.