Utility of Satellite Data to monitor drought and floods in India

Abstract:

Extreme hydrologic events such as droughts and floods pose tremendous pressure on society. The damage due to extreme events has increased during the recent decades and it may increase even further under the projected future climate. Real time monitoring of hydrologic extremes is essential to minimize losses to society and infrastructure. However, in many areas, where gauge based observations are not available in timely manner, real-time monitoring of droughts and floods has been challenging. In the absence of in-situ gauge based observations, satellite data from the various platform may provide an useful information for the real-time monitoring. Using the precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) a real-time monitor that updates on daily basis was developed for India. The hydrologic variables (soil moisture, runoff, and Evapotranspiration) were simulated using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. The real-time monitor was successfully evaluated for the drought and flood monitoring in India. The monitor provides soil moisture and total runoff conditions at a high resolution. Moreover, the monitor can provide a valuable information on daily streamflow monitoring at the selected gauge stations in India.