HYDALP, a European project on the use of remote sensing for snowmelt runoff modelling and forecasting

The HYDALP project is aimed at the application of Earth observation data to improve modelling and forecasting of daily runoff in alpine and high latitude basins. SAR from ERS-1,-2 and Radarsat, together with optical images from SPOT, Landsat, IRS, NOAA, and RESURS are used for snow cover monitoring. Automatic and semi-automatic tools have been developed for generating snow maps from the various sensors. The models HBV and SRM are used to calculate daily stream flow. Model modifications have been implemented to optimise the use of input from remote sensing. The methods for satellite data analysis and hydrological modelling have been tested for drainage basins in the Austrian and Swiss Alps, in the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland and in Northern Sweden. During spring 1999, runoff forecasting is planned in real time to test the satellite data links and processing chains, in order to assess the operational potential of Earth observation for water management.