A prototype observation system for water resources in South - East Asia: ground and space measurements to support hydrological and atmospheric modeling of the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau

摘要

The pr oject "Coor dinated Asia-Eur opean long-term Ob serving s ystem of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau hy dro-meteorological processes and the Asian-monsoon systEm with Ground satellite Image dat a and numerical Simulations (CEOP - AEGIS)" is fu nded by the Eur opean Commission under the FP7 Theme Environment. The goal is two-fold: a) to construct out o f existing g round measurements and current / future satellites an observing system to determine and monitor the water yield of th e Plateau; b) to mon itor the evolution of snow, vegetation cover, surface wetness and surface fluxes and analyse th e 1 inkage with con vective act ivity, (ext reme) precipitation e vents an d th e As ian Mon soon. Th ree main elements are f oreseen. a) Ob servations of th e terms of th e water b alance: p recipitation, melt water from s now an d glaciers, changes in soil w ater content and evaporation for a period of three y ears will be generated by integrating ground and satellite measurements on w eekly and monthly basi s. Radiative tr ansfer mode Is and algor ithms w ill be de veloped for different regions of the electro-magnetic spectrum. b) The water balance of the Plat eau will be calculated with a distributed hy drological mode 1. Inte ractions of land sur face hydrology with convective activity and the Asian Monsoon will be in vestigated b y u sing a me so-scale atmos pheric mod el. c) The time-sen es of image data will be used to demonstrate a Drought and a Flood Early Warning Systems. The system will rely on an existing and expanding network of observatories and on sp aceborne ob serving s ystems for which d ata continuity is guaranteed. A Database Management System will be put in place in Lhasa.