STREAM-NEXT

This project is a proposal extension of the ESA STREAM project (SaTellite based Runoff Evaluation And Mapping, Contract Number 4000126745/19/I-NB) and it is addressed to investigate the possibility to extend at global scale the estimation of runoff and river discharge by using satellite observations. In particular the project will explore the feasibility to:

• provide long-term independent global-scale gridded runoff and river discharge estimates from solely satellite observations (i.e., satellite precipitation, soil moisture, water level and  and Terrestrial Water Storage Anomalies) without the need for exploiting ground-based observations. These estimates will be compared against land surface model runoff estimates to establish the added value of satellite data above all over highly anthropized areas were modelling the processes could be a limiting factor;
• understand how much the spatial and temporal resolution of satellite data and specifically the spatial resolution of the gravimetry data affect the model results. This aspect would be important for assessing the benefit of the future gravimetry “NGGM-MAGIC” mission;
• analyze standardized runoff anomalies to evaluate the impact of climate change on runoff and river discharge trend and to reconstruct past flood or drought events relevant for water resources management.

The activity is led by CNR-IRPI with the participation of the Institute of Geodesy (GIS) at University of Stuttgart and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The duration activity is of 24 months, until November 2025.