Improving hydrological forecasting using multi-source remote sensing data together with in situ measurements

This paper describes the development of information systems and techniques for improving hydrological forecasting by applying satellite observations, weather radars, and in situ measurements from automatic monitoring stations. In the methodology developed and demonstrated, the observation data are accompanied with a detailed soil and land cover information. The information system is concerned with the following physical characteristics relevant to river discharges and flooding: snow water equivalent (SWE), cumulative amount of precipitation, fraction of snow covered area during the melting period (FSC), soil moisture, and soil frost. Feasibility of the multi-source information system is demonstrated in a pilot experiment for Finnish Lapland, using the hydrological forecasting system of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) as an example of a typical operational distributed model.