Demonstrating the potential of real-time EO for hydrological situation monitoring and early warning in the Sentinel era

The key objective of this project is to demonstrate the potential for Earth Observation to improve hydrological situation monitoring for a range of stakeholders. The long-term vision is to embed EO into decision making via improved monitoring, new indicators and enhanced modelling through data assimilation. The goal is to use existing EO products (in particular, soil moisture and vegetation condition) and integrate these with existing hydrometeorological monitoring programmes, to assess the potential benefits of a more integrated monitoring system in future.

Key Outcomes
(1) New datasets of EO and updated hydrometeorological datasets, all in the same format and grid system
(2) Results of soil moisture intercomparison
(3) Assessment of model performance
(4) Appraisal of new indicators for three key sectors (agriculture, water supply, geohazards)
(5) Demonstration of portal concept through a mock-up

The key benefit for stakeholders is that the project will demonstrate the potential utility of EO based information for hydrological monitoring and early warning, and will thus stimulate the development of improved systems in future. It is envisaged that this small pilot project will provide an impetus for a much larger research programme that can consolidate and extend the findings from the case study region to much larger scales, including internationally.