Satellite data and distributed hydrological model for water resources assessment in the upper yangtze river basin

The main objective of the project "Application of remote sensing and other space technology to hydrology and water resources (ID 5281)" is to assess water resources availability under human and natural pressure on the Yangtze River basin combining remote sensing data with distributed hydrological models. Chinese and ESA satellite images and ground measurements have been analysed in order to provide the necessary dataset to the modelling. Two main objectives can be highlighted in this work: 1) to evaluate the use of LST retrieved from MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite images for the validation of a distributed hydrological model as a complementary method to the traditional calibration with the few discharge measurements for river basin, 2) to evaluate the possibility of computing evapotranspiration from the closure of the hydrological water balance at monthly scale using only satellite data and ground discharge measurement.