GMSM Phase II - Global Monitoring for Water Hazards Assessment Phase II

01.01.2011 - 30.07.2012
Research funding project
The overall goal of GMSM is to advance the use of soil moisture services based on METOP ASCAT and complementary satellite systems, most importantly SMOS and ENVISAT ASAR, in water hazards applications. Soil moisture – the water stored in soil within reach of the plants – is a crucial parameter for a large number of applications. Near-real-time soil moisture information is, amongst others, important for weather forecasting, flood and drought monitoring, and civil protection. Long-term soil moisture time series are important for improving our understanding of impacts of global warming on water resources, carbon balance, ecology and epidemiology. In line with European GMES projects, GMSM combines elements of a Core Service with a Downstream Service. The GMSM Core Service encompasses activities related to the further development and validation of satellite soil moisture products. The GMSM Downstream Service tackles the problem of how to translate the soil moisture information provided by the satellites into useful information for decision makers and the public. In addition, Outreach is an important component of GMSM, encompassing activities such as data distribution, user support, training, website and publications. Within the project following application-oriented topics will be addressed: • Assimilation of ASCAT soil moisture data in a regional NWP model • Improve regional scale crop growth and yield monitoring methods • Improve hydrologic model predictions • Modelling the dynamics of mosquito-borne infectious diseases • Validate the land surface module of regional climate models • Improve methods for desertification monitoring • Integration with population data for improved determination of societal risks

People

Project leader

Project personnel

Institute

Grant funds

  • FFG - Österr. Forschungsförderungs- gesellschaft mbH (National) Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Research focus

  • Environmental Monitoring and Climate Adaptation: 100%

Keywords

GermanEnglish
BodenfeuchtigkeitSoil Moisture
DatenassimilationData Assimilation
METOP ASCATMETOP ASCAT
NaturgefahrenWater Hazards

External partner

  • Universität für Bodenkultur - Institut für Meteorologie und Physik
  • Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Department f.Nutztiere u.öffentliches Gesundheitswesen
  • AIT Austrian Institute of Technolog GmbH
  • Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg - Zentrum für Geoinformatik
  • Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik
  • Institut für Wasserbau und Ingenieurhydrologie
  • GeoVille Informationssysteme und Datenverarbeitung GmbH

Publications