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Assessment of H SAF satellite snow products in hydrological applications over the Upper Euphrates Basin

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Abstract

Satellite technology offers alternative products for hydrological applications; however, products should be validated with benchmark models and/or data sets for operational purposes. This study assesses the performance of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management (H SAF) snow products of snow detection, SE-E-SEVIRI(H10), and snow water equivalent, SWE-E(H13), data sets over a mountainous catchment in the Upper Euphrates, Turkey. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow extent is used as a benchmark. Two different conceptual hydrological models are employed to obtain reliable results over the period 2008–2020. First, the spatio-temporal assessment of satellite-derived snow cover area (SCA) data is evaluated, followed by the calibration/validation of hydrological models, SRM and HBV, for impact analysis and hydro-validation of satellite snow products, respectively. SRM, demanding SCA as one of the primary forcings, reveals high Kling Gupta Efficiency, KGE, (0.75–0.89) in the impact analysis of satellite data. In hydro-validation analysis, noteworthy Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency, NSE (0.89–0.92), values are obtained for SCA derived by SE-E-SEVIRI(H10) and MODIS as compared to simulated HBV model results. SWE-E(H13) product is also valuable since snow water equivalent (SWE) values are rarely available for mountainous areas. However, this product seems to need further attention. Overall results show the degree of applicability and usefulness of H SAF snow data in hydrological applications; thus, the strong need to disseminate the products is highlighted.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. H SAF satellite data set is available for registered users from the H SAF project website. The hydro-meteorological data set is provided by interested governmental offices but not public or open to third parties.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The research has been conducted in the framework of the EUMETSAT H-SAF Project. Thanks are extended to all the institutions for supporting and promoting these research activities. The authors would like to acknowledge the Turkish State Meteorological Service and State Hydraulic Works (Turkey) for providing hydro-meteorological datasets used in this study.

Funding

“The authors declare that no funds or grants were received during the preparation of this manuscript. However, the work is done under the framework and support by the EUMETSAT H SAF project.”

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Eskisehir Technical University, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Aynur Şensoy, Gökçen Uysal & A. Arda Şorman

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  1. Aynur Şensoy
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  2. Gökçen Uysal
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  3. A. Arda Şorman
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“All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Aynur Şensoy, Gökçen Uysal, and Ali Arda Şorman. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Aynur Şensoy, and all authors commented on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

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Correspondence to Aynur Şensoy.

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Şensoy, A., Uysal, G. & Şorman, A.A. Assessment of H SAF satellite snow products in hydrological applications over the Upper Euphrates Basin. Theor Appl Climatol 151, 535–551 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04292-1

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