scholarly journals Assimilation of SMOS brightness temperature into a large-scale distributed conceptual hydrological model

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Hostache ◽  
Dominik Rains ◽  
Kaniska Mallick ◽  
Marco Chini ◽  
Ramona Pelich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Meteorological Model ◽  
Temperature Observations

Abstract. The main objective of this study is to investigate how brightness temperature observations from satellite microwave sensors may help in reducing errors and uncertainties in soil moisture simulations with a large-scale conceptual hydro-meteorological model. In particular, we use as forcings the ERA-Interim public dataset and we couple the CMEM radiative transfer model with a hydro-meteorological model enabling therefore soil moisture and SMOS-like brightness temperature simulations. The hydro-meteorological model is configured using recent developments of the SUPERFLEX framework, which enables tailoring the model structure to the specific needs of the application as well as to data availability and computational requirements. In this case, the model spatial resolution is adapted to the spatial grid of the satellite data, and the soil stratification is tailored to the satellite datasets to be assimilated and the forcing data. The hydrological model is first calibrated using a sample of SMOS brightness temperature observations (period 2010–2011). Next, SMOS-derived brightness temperature observations are sequentially assimilated into the coupled SUPERFLEX-CMEM model (period 2010–2015). For this experiment, a Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter is used and the meteorological forcings (ERA interim-based rainfall, air and soil temperature) are perturbed to generate a background ensemble. Each time a SMOS observation is available, the SUPERFLEX state variables related to the water content in the various soil layers are updated and the model simulations are resumed until the next SMOS observation becomes available. Our empirical results show that the SUPERFLEX-CMEM modelling chain is capable of predicting soil moisture at a performance level similar to that obtained for the same study area and with a quasi-identical experimental set up using the CLM land surface model. This shows that a simple model, when carefully calibrated, can yield performance level similar to that of a much more complex model. The correlation between simulated and in situ observed soil moisture ranges from 0.62 to 0.72. The assimilation of SMOS brightness temperature observation into the SUPERFLEX-CMEM modelling chain improves the correlation between predicted and in situ observed soil moisture by 0.03 on average showing improvements similar to those obtained using the CLM land surface model.

scholarly journals Assessment of the SMAP Level-4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture Product Using In Situ Measurements

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 2621-2645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf H. Reichle ◽  
Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy ◽  
Qing Liu ◽  
Joseph V. Ardizzone ◽  
Andreas Colliander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Accuracy Requirement ◽  
Temperature Observations

Abstract The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) data product is generated by assimilating SMAP L-band brightness temperature observations into the NASA Catchment land surface model. The L4_SM product is available from 31 March 2015 to present (within 3 days from real time) and provides 3-hourly, global, 9-km resolution estimates of surface (0–5 cm) and root-zone (0–100 cm) soil moisture and land surface conditions. This study presents an overview of the L4_SM algorithm, validation approach, and product assessment versus in situ measurements. Core validation sites provide spatially averaged surface (root zone) soil moisture measurements for 43 (17) “reference pixels” at 9- and 36-km gridcell scales located in 17 (7) distinct watersheds. Sparse networks provide point-scale measurements of surface (root zone) soil moisture at 406 (311) locations. Core validation site results indicate that the L4_SM product meets its soil moisture accuracy requirement, specified as an unbiased RMSE (ubRMSE, or standard deviation of the error) of 0.04 m3 m−3 or better. The ubRMSE for L4_SM surface (root zone) soil moisture is 0.038 m3 m−3 (0.030 m3 m−3) at the 9-km scale and 0.035 m3 m−3 (0.026 m3 m−3) at the 36-km scale. The L4_SM estimates improve (significantly at the 5% level for surface soil moisture) over model-only estimates, which do not benefit from the assimilation of SMAP brightness temperature observations and have a 9-km surface (root zone) ubRMSE of 0.042 m3 m−3 (0.032 m3 m−3). Time series correlations exhibit similar relative performance. The sparse network results corroborate these findings over a greater variety of climate and land cover conditions.

The Contributions of Gauge-Based Precipitation and SMAP Brightness Temperature Observations to the Skill of the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Product

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf H. Reichle ◽  
Qing Liu ◽  
Joseph V. Ardizzone ◽  
Wade T. Crow ◽  
Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Meteorological Forcing ◽  
Earth Observing System ◽  
Error Surface

AbstractSoil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission L-band brightness temperature (Tb) observations are routinely assimilated into the Catchment land surface model to generate Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) estimates of global surface and root-zone soil moisture at 9-km, 3-hourly resolution with ~2.5-day latency. The Catchment model in the L4_SM algorithm is driven with ¼-degree, hourly surface meteorological forcing data from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS). Outside of Africa and the high latitudes, GEOS precipitation is corrected using Climate Prediction Center Unified (CPCU) gauge-based, ½-degree, daily precipitation. L4_SM soil moisture was previously shown to improve over land model-only estimates that use CPCU precipitation but no Tb assimilation (CPCU_SIM). Here, we additionally examine the skill of model-only (CTRL) and Tb assimilation-only (SMAP_DA) estimates derived without CPCU precipitation. Soil moisture is assessed versus in situ measurements in well-instrumented regions and globally through the Instrumental Variable (IV) method using independent soil moisture retrievals from the Advanced Scatterometer. At the in situ locations, SMAP_DA and CPCU_SIM have comparable soil moisture skill improvements relative to CTRL for the unbiased root-mean-square error (surface and root-zone) and correlation metrics (root-zone only). In the global average, SMAP Tb assimilation increases the surface soil moisture anomaly correlation by 0.10-0.11 compared to an increase of 0.02-0.03 from the CPCU-based precipitation corrections. The contrast is particularly strong in central Australia, where CPCU is known to have errors and observation-minus-forecast Tb residuals are larger when CPCU precipitation is used. Validation versus streamflow measurements in the contiguous U.S. reveals that CPCU precipitation provides most of the skill gained in L4_SM runoff estimates over CTRL.

scholarly journals Assimilation of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) brightness temperature into a large-scale distributed conceptual hydrological model to improve soil moisture predictions: the Murray–Darling basin in Australia as a test case

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 4793-4812
Author(s):  
Renaud Hostache ◽  
Dominik Rains ◽  
Kaniska Mallick ◽  
Marco Chini ◽  
Ramona Pelich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Meteorological Model ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Ocean Salinity ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Temperature Observations

Abstract. The main objective of this study is to investigate how brightness temperature observations from satellite microwave sensors may help to reduce errors and uncertainties in soil moisture and evapotranspiration simulations with a large-scale conceptual hydro-meteorological model. In addition, this study aims to investigate whether such a conceptual modelling framework, relying on parameter calibration, can reach the performance level of more complex physically based models for soil moisture simulations at a large scale. We use the ERA-Interim publicly available forcing data set and couple the Community Microwave Emission Modelling (CMEM) platform radiative transfer model with a hydro-meteorological model to enable, therefore, soil moisture, evapotranspiration and brightness temperature simulations over the Murray–Darling basin in Australia. The hydro-meteorological model is configured using recent developments in the SUPERFLEX framework, which enables tailoring the model structure to the specific needs of the application and to data availability and computational requirements. The hydrological model is first calibrated using only a sample of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) brightness temperature observations (2010–2011). Next, SMOS brightness temperature observations are sequentially assimilated into the coupled SUPERFLEX–CMEM model (2010–2015). For this experiment, a local ensemble transform Kalman filter is used. Our empirical results show that the SUPERFLEX–CMEM modelling chain is capable of predicting soil moisture at a performance level similar to that obtained for the same study area and with a quasi-identical experimental set-up using the Community Land Model (CLM) . This shows that a simple model, when calibrated using globally and freely available Earth observation data, can yield performance levels similar to those of a physically based (uncalibrated) model. The correlation between simulated and in situ observed soil moisture ranges from 0.62 to 0.72 for the surface and root zone soil moisture. The assimilation of SMOS brightness temperature observations into the SUPERFLEX–CMEM modelling chain improves the correlation between predicted and in situ observed surface and root zone soil moisture by 0.03 on average, showing improvements similar to those obtained using the CLM land surface model. Moreover, at the same time the assimilation improves the correlation between predicted and in situ observed monthly evapotranspiration by 0.02 on average.

scholarly journals An Integrated Framework for a Joint Assimilation of Brightness Temperature and Soil Moisture Using the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1596-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gift Dumedah ◽  
Aaron A. Berg ◽  
Mark Wineberg
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Surface Scheme ◽  
Nondominated Sorting

Abstract This study has applied the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) in a two-step assimilation procedure to jointly assimilate brightness temperature into a radiative transfer model and soil moisture into a land surface model. The first assimilation procedure generates a time series of soil moisture by assimilating brightness temperature from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) into the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM). The second procedure generates assimilated soil moisture by assimilating the soil moisture from LPRM into the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS). Note that the assimilated soil moisture was generated by merging two soil moisture estimates: one from LPRM and the other from the CLASS simulation. The assimilated soil moisture is better than using the soil moisture determined either from the satellite observation or the land surface scheme alone. This method provides improved model state and parameterizations for both LPRM and CLASS with the aim to facilitate real-time forecasts when satellite information becomes available. Application of this framework to the Brightwater Creek watershed in southern Saskatchewan illustrates the utility of the joint assimilation framework to improve a time series of soil moisture estimates. The estimated soil moisture datasets were evaluated over an agricultural site in southern Saskatchewan using in situ monitoring networks. These results demonstrate that soil moisture generated from assimilation of brightness temperature could be improved by incorporating it into a land surface model. A comparison between the assimilated soil moisture and in situ dataset demonstrates an improvement in accuracy and temporal pattern that is accomplished through the assimilation framework.

scholarly journals Deriving surface soil moisture from reflected GNSS signal observations from a grassland site in southwestern France

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibo Zhang ◽  
Jean-Christophe Calvet ◽  
José Darrozes ◽  
Nicolas Roussel ◽  
Frédéric Frappart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Grassland Site

Abstract. This work aims to assess the estimation of surface volumetric soil moisture (VSM) using the Global Navigation Satellite System Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) technique. Year-round observations were acquired from a grassland site in southwestern France using an antenna consecutively placed at two contrasting heights above the ground surface (3.3 or 29.4 m). The VSM retrievals are compared with two independent reference datasets: in situ observations of soil moisture, and numerical simulations of soil moisture and vegetation biomass from the ISBA (Interactions between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere) land surface model. Scaled VSM estimates can be retrieved throughout the year removing vegetation effects by the separation of growth and senescence periods and by the filtering of the GNSS-IR observations that are most affected by vegetation. Antenna height has no significant impact on the quality of VSM estimates. Comparisons between the VSM GNSS-IR retrievals and the in situ VSM observations at a depth of 5 cm show a good agreement (R2 = 0.86 and RMSE = 0.04 m3 m−3). It is shown that the signal is sensitive to the grass litter water content and that this effect triggers differences between VSM retrievals and in situ VSM observations at depths of 1 cm and 5 cm, especially during light rainfall events.

scholarly journals Using data assimilation to optimize pedotransfer functions using large-scale in-situ soil moisture observations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cooper ◽  
Eleanor Blyth ◽  
Hollie Cooper ◽  
Rich Ellis ◽  
Ewan Pinnington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Pedotransfer Functions ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Land Surface Models ◽  
Surface Models

Abstract. Soil moisture predictions from land surface models are important in hydrological, ecological and meteorological applications. In recent years the availability of wide-area soil-moisture measurements has increased, but few studies have combined model-based soil moisture predictions with in-situ observations beyond the point scale. Here we show that we can markedly improve soil moisture estimates from the JULES land surface model using field scale observations and data assimilation techniques. Rather than directly updating soil moisture estimates towards observed values, we optimize constants in the underlying pedotransfer functions, which relate soil texture to JULES soil physics parameters. In this way we generate a single set of newly calibrated pedotransfer functions based on observations from a number of UK sites with different soil textures. We demonstrate that calibrating a pedotransfer function in this way can improve the performance of land surface models, leading to the potential for better flood, drought and climate projections.

scholarly journals SMOS Neural Network Soil Moisture Data Assimilation in a Land Surface Model and Atmospheric Impact

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemesio Rodriguez-Fernandez ◽  
Patricia de Rosnay ◽  
Clement Albergel ◽  
Philippe Richaume ◽  
Filipe Aires ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Northern Asia ◽  
The Impact

The assimilation of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) data into the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) H-TESSEL (Hydrology revised - Tiled ECMWF Scheme for Surface Exchanges over Land) model is presented. SMOS soil moisture (SM) estimates have been produced specifically by training a neural network with SMOS brightness temperatures as input and H-TESSEL model SM simulations as reference. This can help the assimilation of SMOS information in several ways: (1) the neural network soil moisture (NNSM) data have a similar climatology to the model, (2) no global bias is present with respect to the model even if regional differences can exist. Experiments performing joint data assimilation (DA) of NNSM, 2 metre air temperature and relative humidity or NNSM-only DA are discussed. The resulting SM was evaluated against a large number of in situ measurements of SM obtaining similar results to those of the model with no assimilation, even if significant differences were found from site to site. In addition, atmospheric forecasts initialized with H-TESSEL runs (without DA) or with the analysed SM were compared to measure of the impact of the satellite information. Although, NNSM DA has an overall neutral impact in the forecast in the Tropics, a significant positive impact was found in other areas and periods, especially in regions with limited in situ information. The joint NNSM, T2m and RH2m DA improves the forecast for all the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact is mostly due to T2m and RH2m, but SMOS NN DA alone also improves the forecast in July- September. In the Northern Hemisphere, the joint NNSM, T2m and RH2m DA improves the forecast in April-September, while NNSM alone has a significant positive effect in July-September. Furthermore, forecasting skill maps show that SMOS NNSM improves the forecast in North America and in Northern Asia for up to 72 hours lead time.

Towards an operationally capable satellite-based 0-100 cm soil moisture dataset from C3S

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Pasik ◽  
Wolfgang Preimesberger ◽  
Bernhard Bauer-Marschallinger ◽  
Wouter Dorigo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
T Values

<p>Multiple satellite-based global surface soil moisture (SSM) datasets are presently available, these however, address exclusively the top layer of the soil (0-5cm). Meanwhile, root-zone soil moisture cannot be directly quantified with remote sensing but can be estimated from SSM using a land surface model. Alternatively, soil water index (SWI; calculated from SSM as a function of time needed for infiltration) can be used as a simple approximation of root-zone conditions. SWI is a proxy for deeper layers of the soil profile which control evapotranspiration, and is hence especially important for studying hydrological processes over vegetation-covered areas and meteorological modelling.</p><p>Here we introduce the advances in our work on the first operationally capable SWI-based root-zone soil moisture dataset from C3S Soil Moisture v201912 COMBINED product, spanning the period 2002-2020. The uniqueness of this dataset lies in the fact that T-values (temporal lengths ruling the infiltration) characteristic of SWI were translated into particular soil depths making it much more intuitive, user-friendly and easily applicable. Available are volumetric soil moisture values for the top 1 m of the soil profile at 10 cm intervals, where the optimal T-value (T-best) for each soil layer is selected based on a range of correlation metrics with in situ measurements from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) and the relevant soil and climatic parameters.<br>Additionally we present the results of an extensive global validation against in situ measurements (ISMN) as well as the results of investigations into the relationship between a range of soil and climate characteristics and the optimal T-values for particular soil depths.</p>

Comparing Assimilation of Soil Moisture and C-band Backscatter in High Resolution Land Surface Model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leqiang Sun ◽  
Stéphane Belair ◽  
Marco Carrera ◽  
Bernard Bilodeau
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Land Surface Model ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Lookup Table ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Loop Model ◽  
The Impact

<p>Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has recently started receiving and processing the images from the recently launched C-band RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). The backscatter and soil moisture retrievals products from the previously launched RADARSAT-2 agree well with both in-situ measurements and surface soil moisture modeled with land surface model Soil, Vegetation, and Snow (SVS). RCM will provide those products at an even better spatial coverage and temporal resolution. In preparation of the potential operational application of RCM products in Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC), this paper presents the scenarios of assimilating either soil moisture retrieval or outright backscatter signal in a 100-meter resolution version of the Canadian Land Data Assimilation System (CaLDAS) on field scale with time interval of three hours. The soil moisture retrieval map was synthesized by extrapolating the regression relationship between in-situ measurements and open loop model output based on soil texture lookup table. Based on this, the backscatter map was then generated with the surface roughness retrieved from RADARSAT-2 images using a modified Integral Equation Model (IEM) model. Bias correction was applied to the Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) to mitigate the impact of nonlinear errors introduced by multi-sourced perturbations. Initial results show that the assimilation of backscatter is as effective as assimilating soil moisture retrievals. Compared to open loop, both can improve the analysis of surface moisture, particularly in terms of reducing bias.  </p>

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