A macro hydrologic model simulation based on remote sensing data

Abstract

The hydrologically based variable infiltration capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrologic model was applied to simulate streamflow for Poyang Lake Basin in China. DEM needed to get basin characteristics is from SRTM. The required soil parameters are derived from the soil classification information of global 5 min data provided by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) Hydrology Office, the vegetation parameters are derived based on MODIS products and land data assimilation system (LDAS) and the forcing data are obtained through interpolation method based on 151 stations. All of the data (i.e. soil, vegetation, and forcings) needed by VIC-3L are compiled with at 8times8 km2 resolution. The VIC-3L model is applied to the Yellow River basin and the simulated daily runoff is routed to the outlet of two stations using ARNO model and compared to daily observed streamflow at these stations. Results show that remote sensing data can play the important role in model simulation process, though application of remote sensing data can not improve the performance of the model very much.