Print Email Facebook Twitter Improved Understanding of the Link Between Catchment-Scale Vegetation Accessible Storage and Satellite-Derived Soil Water Index Title Improved Understanding of the Link Between Catchment-Scale Vegetation Accessible Storage and Satellite-Derived Soil Water Index Author Bouaziz, L.J.E. (TU Delft Water Resources; Deltares) Steele-Dunne, S.C. (TU Delft Water Resources) Schellekens, Jaap (VanderSat B.V.) Weerts, Albrecht H. (Deltares; Wageningen University & Research) Stam, Jasper (Rijkswaterstaat) Sprokkereef, Eric (Rijkswaterstaat) Winsemius, H.C. (TU Delft Water Resources; Deltares) Savenije, Hubert (TU Delft Water Resources) Hrachowitz, M. (TU Delft Water Resources) Date 2020 Abstract The spatiotemporal dynamics of water volumes stored in the unsaturated root zone are a key control on the response of terrestrial hydrological systems. Robust, catchment-scale root-zone soil moisture estimates are thus critical for reliable predictions of river flow, groundwater recharge, or evaporation. Satellites provide estimates of near-surface soil moisture that can be used to approximate the moisture content in the entire unsaturated root zone through the Soil Water Index (SWI). The characteristic time length (T, in days), as only parameter in the SWI approach, characterizes the temporal variability of soil moisture. The factors controlling T are typically assumed to be related to soil properties and climate; however, no clear link has so far been established. In this study, we hypothesize that optimal T values (Topt) are linked to the interplay of precipitation and evaporation during dry periods, thus to catchment-scale vegetation accessible water storage capacities in the unsaturated root zone. We identify Topt by matching modeled time series of root-zone soil moisture from a calibrated process-based hydrological model to SWI from several satellite-based near-surface soil moisture products in 16 contrasting catchments in the Meuse river basin. Topt values are strongly and positively correlated with vegetation accessible water volumes that can be stored in the root zone, here estimated for each study catchment both as model calibration parameter and from a water-balance approach. Differences in Topt across catchments are also explained by land cover (% agriculture), soil texture (% silt), and runoff signatures (flashiness index). Subject catchment hydrologyremotely sensed near-surface soil moistureSoil Water Indexvegetation accessible water storage To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:acba88f3-0672-480d-9c29-7dcd159c287f DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026365 ISSN 0043-1397 Source Water Resources Research, 56 (3), 1-22 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2020 L.J.E. Bouaziz, S.C. Steele-Dunne, Jaap Schellekens, Albrecht H. Weerts, Jasper Stam, Eric Sprokkereef, H.C. Winsemius, Hubert Savenije, M. Hrachowitz Files PDF 2019WR026365.pdf 6.56 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:acba88f3-0672-480d-9c29-7dcd159c287f/datastream/OBJ/view