Remote observations in changing locations: what can 40 years of satellite data tell us about the future of pan-Arctic streamflow?
Abstract
Arctic streamflow is increasing significantly and projected to continue intensifying in the future. However, due to limited observations and insufficient understanding of linkages within the Arctic hydrologic cycle, the scope and implications of these changes are not yet well understood. Given the lack of available observations, hydrologists have turned to remote sensing estimates of river discharge. By using at-many-stations hydraulic geometry, we can use river width estimates from Landsat satellites to estimate discharge through a Bayesian inversion, yielding discharge estimates from 1984 to present in largely ungauged river reaches. We use these satellite-derived discharge estimates to provide a continuous discharge record via data assimilation throughout the pan-Arctic at an unprecedented spatial and temporal scale. Here we aim to combine this novel dataset with the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrology model in order to investigate the following questions:
To what extent does incorporating remotely sensed discharge estimates improve VIC model performance in the pan-Arctic? To what extent does incorporating remotely sensed discharge estimates affect future projections of pan-Arctic streamflow? What are the implications of these future projections of pan-Arctic streamflow? To address these questions, we will use this new remotely sensed discharge product to calibrate VIC and compare these results with calibration from a recent global river discharge product Global Reach-Level A Priori Discharge Estimates for SWOT (GRADES). We will compare future projections of pan-Arctic streamflow from both calibrations under future CMIP6 scenarios and input data.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMH010.0007H
- Keywords:
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- 1825 Geomorphology: fluvial;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1855 Remote sensing;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1856 River channels;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1860 Streamflow;
- HYDROLOGY