Uncertainty reduction and parameters estimation of a distributed hydrological model with ground and remote sensing data

During the last decade the opportunity and usefulness of using remote sensing data in hydrology, hydrometeorology and geomorphology has become even more evident and clear. Satellite based products often provide the advantage of observing hydrologic variables in a distributed way while offering a different view that can help to understand and model the hydrological cycle. Moreover, remote sensing data are fundamental in scarce data environments. The use of satellite derived DTM, which are globally available (e.g. from SRTM as used in this work), have become standard practice in hydrologic model implementation, but other types of satellite derived data are still underutilized. In this work, Meteosat Second Generation Land Surface Temperature (LST) estimates and Surface Soil Moisture (SSM) available from EUMETSAT H-SAF are used to calibrate the Continuum hydrological model that computes such state variables in a prognostic mode. This work aims at proving that satellite observations dramatically reduce uncertainties in parameters calibration by reducing their equifinality. Two parameter estimation strategies are implemented and tested: a multi-objective approach that includes ground observations and one solely based on remotely sensed data. Two Italian catchments are used as the test bed to verify the model capability in reproducing long-term (multi-year) simulations.