Comparison of soil moisture fields estimated by catchment modelling and remote sensing: a case study in South Africa

T. Vischel (1) , G. Pegram (1) , S. Sinclair (1) , W. Wagner (2) , A. Bartsch (2)

1 Civil Engineering Programme
2 Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The paper compares two independent approaches to estimate soil moisture at the regional scale over a 4625 km² catchment (Liebenbergsvlei, South Africa). The first estimate is derived from a physically-based hydrological model (TOPKAPI). The second estimate is derived from the scatterometer on board on the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS). Results show a very good correspondence between the modelled and remotely sensed soil moisture, illustrated over two selected seasons of 8 months by regression R² coefficients lying between 0.78 and 0.92. Such a close similarity between these two different, independent approaches is very promising for (i) remote sensing in general (ii) the use of hydrological models to back-calculate and disaggregate the satellite soil moisture estimate and (iii) for hydrological models to assimilate the remotely sensed soil moisture.

Domaines: Interfaces continentales, environnement; Océan, Atmosphère; Sciences de la Terre

T. Vischel, G. Pegram, S. Sinclair, W. Wagner, A. Bartsch. Comparison of soil moisture fields estimated by catchment modelling and remote sensing: a case study in South Africa. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2007, 4 (4), pp.2273-2306. ⟨hal-00298861⟩