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Applications of TRMM-Based Multi-Satellite Precipitation Estimation for Global Runoff Prediction: Prototyping a Global Flood Modeling System

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Satellite Rainfall Applications for Surface Hydrology

Abstract

To offer a cost-effective solution to the ultimate challenge of building flood alert systems for the data-sparse regions of the world, this chapter describes a modular-structured Global Flood Monitoring (GFM) framework that incorporates satellite-based near real-time rainfall flux into a cost-effective hydrological model for flood modeling quasi-globally. This framework includes four major components: TRMM-based real-time precipitation, a global land surface database, a distributed hydrological model, and an open-access web interface. Retrospective simulations for 1998–2006 demonstrate that the GFM performs consistently at catchment levels. The interactive GFM website shows close-up maps of the flood risks overlaid on topography/population or integrated with the Google-Earth visualization tool. One additional capability, which extends forecast lead-time by assimilating QPF into the GFM, also will be implemented in the future.

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Acknowledgement

This research is carried out with support from NASA’s Precipitation Measurement Mission (PMM) and Applied Sciences program under Ramesh Kakar and Stephen Ambrose of NASA Headquarters. Partial research support is from the University of Oklahoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, 73019, Norman, OK, USA

    Yang Hong

  2. Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Robert F. Adler & George J. Huffman

  3. Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Robert F. Adler

  4. Science Systems and Applications, Inc, 20706, Lanham, MD, USA

    George J. Huffman & Harold Pierce

  5. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 20771, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Harold Pierce

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  1. Yang Hong
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  2. Robert F. Adler
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  3. George J. Huffman
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  4. Harold Pierce
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yang Hong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Glenbrook Road 261, Storrs, 06269-2037, U.S.A.

    Mekonnen Gebremichael

  2. Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, 38505-0001, U.S.A.

    Faisal Hossain

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Hong, Y., Adler, R.F., Huffman, G.J., Pierce, H. (2010). Applications of TRMM-Based Multi-Satellite Precipitation Estimation for Global Runoff Prediction: Prototyping a Global Flood Modeling System. In: Gebremichael, M., Hossain, F. (eds) Satellite Rainfall Applications for Surface Hydrology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2915-7_15

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