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Improving NOAA/NWS River Forecast Center Decision Support with NASA Satellite and Land Information System Products

Investigators: P. Restrepo (NOAA/NWS/OHD), A. Limaye (MSFC GHCC) Christa Peters-Lidard (NASA GSFC), C. Laymon (MSFC/USRA/GHCC), W. Crosson (MSFC/USRA/GHCC), M. Estes (MSFC/USRA/GHCC), Z. Al-Hamden (MSFC/USRA/GHCC), D.L. Rickman (NASA/MSFC), F. Cosgrove (SAIC/NASA/GSFC), M. Garcia (UMC/GEST/NASA/GSFC), V. Koren (NOAA/NWS/OHD), D.J. Seo (UCAR/NOAA/NWS/OHD), M. Smith (NOAA/NWS/OHD), D. Toll (NASA/GSFC), and P. Houser (GMU/IGES/CREW)

Abstract The purpose of this project is to assess the potential for MODIS, AMSR-E and NASA LIS to improve the performance of NOAA NWS River Forecast System at 13 River Forecast Centers used primarily short-term river flows, including flash floods, and seasonal water supply for a range of public concerns. The overarching goal of the proposed work is the demonstration of improved accuracy in runoff, flow, flood and snow monitoring and simulation from the combination of NASA MODIS and AMSR-E satellite date and NASA LIS modeling information and infrastructure with operational NWSRFS decision support tools. The proposed work will be conducted in 3-phases. Phase 1, NASA/MSFC and NOAA/NWS/OHD researchers will use MODIS cloud cover products to improve potential evaporation estimates. Phase 2 will leverage ongoing NOAA and NASA/GSFC collaboration for integration of NASA LIS and NWSRFS components. Phase 3 of the proposed project will involve an evaluation study of NASA snow cover, SWE and soil moisture in to an integrated LIS-RFS system.

NASA Products

Terra - MODIS, Aqua - MODIS, AMSR-E, QuikSCAT, Model - LDAS/LIS

Project Partners

NOAA

Decision Support Tools

The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Eta Mesoscale Forecasting (Eta model) is the main operational mesoscale model used by NOAA to produce surface and upper air forecasts over North America. Eta model forecasts of precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation are used by the public and by a wide range of government agencies and universities as input to DSTs. Initializations of Eta model forecasts can be improved with the use of NASA data and models, an approach being investigated by the North American Land Data Assimilation System E-grid project (NLDASE). NASA data products and models under consideration include the LIS modeling framework, MODIS snow, vegetation and temperature data, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, AMSR-E soil moisture and SWE data, and TRMM precipitation data. Better initial land surface conditions will lead to improved weather forecasts, which will benefit the public in general, and DSTs which depend on weather forecast input in particular. These DSTs include NIDIS, NASS, AWIPS, AHPS, CADRE (Crop Assessment Data Retrieval & Evaluation), ISFS (Invasive Species Forecasting System), MMS (Malaria Monitoring and Surveillance), NAS-AWRP (National Air Space - Aviation Weather Research Program), RiverWare, and AWARDS.

The National Weather Service River Forecast System (NWS RFS) is a robust river and hydrologic forecast system. The system includes all the necessary hydrologic and routing models as well as data handling and presentation systems. The NWSRFS has been in operation for over 20 years and is constantly refined and improved. The NWSRFS is used in the United States and in other countries throughout the world. The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) provides river and flood forecasts and warnings in the United States for protection of life and property and by providing basic hydrologic forecast information for environmental and economic well-being. The Office of Hydrologic Development supports the NWS hydrologic mission through the design, development, testing, and implementation of a physically-based hydrologic forecasting system - the NWSRFS. Thirteen River Forecast Centers (RFCs) develop hydrologic forecasts for the U.S. The RFCs use the NWSRFS to make short-term forecasts (a day to a week in advance) of river flows and floods and long-term probabilistic river outlooks (a week to months in advance) in support of water supply management and flood mitigation.

Reports

• Integrated System Solution (ISS) chart

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Date Last Modified: 04/4/07

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