Some thoughts on SWOT water resources applications

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Some thoughts on SWOT water resources
applications

• Dennis P. Lettenmaier
• Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• University of Washington
• WaTER/SWOT SWG meeting
• Paris
• February 1, 2008

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What are the challenges in global water
management?

• Population growth and lifestyle change, leading
  to increased water demand
• Transboundary conflicts
• Environmental change
• Land Cover
• Climate

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1990s land cover (U MD)
Global Potential Vegetation (Ramankutty and Foley)
Forest/Woodland Shrubland/grassland Cropland
Uruguay River basin land cover change potential
vegetation vs 1990s
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Land cover change in the Mekong River basin
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Qori Kalis Glacier, Peru 1978 and 2002. Visual
courtesy of Lonnie Thompson, from Barnett et al
(Nature, 2005)
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Impacts of reservoirs on the water cycle?

• Construction of dams has vastly altered the water
  cycle by
• Altering the seasonal cycle, and annual amount of
  discharge (6 major global rivers, including the
  Colorado, no longer flow at their mouths)
• Increasing the time of travel through the channel
  system
• Changing the quality of rivers, and constituents
  and physical characteristics of continental river
  discharge
• Transporting water within and between rivers
  basins, and altering its partitioning (usually
  meaning increased evapotranspiration)

1900
2000
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Some examples
Columbia River at the Dalles, OR
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Opportunities

• Time series (in near-real time) of elevation, and
  storage (utilizing surface area as well as stage)
  of major global reservoirs (note 2500 in ICOLD
  data set of large global dams, but 80,000 in
  U.S. Army COE data base for U.S. reservoirs
• Action evaluate set of global reservoirs for
  which such a data set would be feasible
  (considering surrounding topography, etc.), and
  evaluate potential for developing
  storage/elevation relationships over the mission
  duration

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• Time series (in near-real time) of inflow (and/or
  outflow) to selected major global reservoirs
• Action Evaluate feasibility, number, location

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(No Transcript)
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ESA River and Lakes data set (primarily
EnviSat/ERS-2) Visuals courtesy Jerome
Benveniste, ESA
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Evolving potential for global real-time drought
characterization (and prediction) is there an
analogous potential for reservoir storage?
Visual courtesy Eric Wood, Princeton University
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• Policy analysis of implications of near-real time
  reservoir storage data on management of
  transboundary rivers
• Action need someone to take this on

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• Demonstration project for large river flooding?
• Most property damage and loss of life comes from
  large river (and coastal) flooding (as opposed to
  flash floods). WaTER flood extent and altimetry
  should provide basis for updating (via data
  assimilation) flood forecast models
• Action Evaluate feasibility and mechanism
  (problem theres always a flood somewhere, but
  we dont know where in advance). Possibly
  partner with a global forecast center?

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Applications studies/demos for coastal
oceanography

• Storm surge/flooding
• Estuarine (and near coastal) circulation/water
  quality
• Opportunities for data assimilation?
• Action prioritize, need someone to take on this
  area