Satellite-based drought analysis in the Zambezi River Basin: Was the 2019 drought the most extreme in several decades as locally perceived?

Study region: The study area is the river basin upstream of the Kariba dam located in the Zambezi River at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Study focus: During the dry season of 2019 in Sub-Saharan Africa, extremely low water levels occurred in the Zambezi. According to news media, locals perceived this drought as the worst in several...

Improving the Representation of Long-Term Storage Variations With Conceptual Hydrological Models in Data-Scarce Regions

In the Luangwa basin in Zambia, long-term total water storage variations were observed with Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, but not reproduced by a standard conceptual hydrological model that encapsulates our current understanding of the dominant regional hydrological processes. The objective of this study was to identify potential...

Learning from satellite observations: Increased understanding of catchment processes through stepwise model improvement

Satellite observations can provide valuable information for a better understanding of hydrological processes and thus serve as valuable tools for model structure development and improvement. While model calibration and evaluation have in recent years started to make increasing use of spatial, mostly remotely sensed information, model...

Using altimetry observations combined with GRACE to select parameter sets of a hydrological model in a data-scarce region

Limited availability of ground measurements in the vast majority of river basins world-wide increases the value of alternative data sources such as satellite observations in hydrological modelling. This study investigates the potential of using remotely sensed river water levels, i.e. altimetry observations, from multiple satellite missions...

Rainfall-runoff modelling using river-stage time series in the absence of reliable discharge information: A case study in the semi-arid Mara River basin

Hydrological models play an important role in water resources management. These models generally rely on discharge data for calibration. Discharge time series are normally derived from observed water levels by using a rating curve. However, this method suffers from many uncertainties due to insufficient observations, inadequate rating curve...