Modélisation hydro-météorologique du bassin du Rhône : apport de la télédétection spatiale

Hydro-meteorological modelisation of the Rhone riverbasin : contribution of remote sensing data

¹ Centre d'étude des Environnements Terrestre et Planétaires
² Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques

Abstract

This article summarizes the works in progress intended to use space remote sensing to validate the hvdrometeorological modeling developed within the framework of the national Gewex-Rhone program. This model couples a surface scheme simulating the hydric and energy surface budgers (ISBA model of Meteo-France), a module simulating the temporal evolution of the snow cover (CROCUS scheme of Meteo-France) and a distributed hydrological model (MODCOU model of the Centre d'Informatiqne Géologique de l'école Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris). It was developed on the French part of the Rhone riverbasin, applied over a fourteen years period and validated on the simulated riverflows in various points of the hydrographic network. The current pahse of development concerns the the extension of the modelisation to the other rivers of the French territory and the validation of the other components of the hydrologic cycle, in particular the evapotranspiration by the means of the soil temperature and humidity. The satellite data base acquired within the framework of the European program Alpilles-ReSeDA on the plain of the Durance was used as a first stage for the validation of the calculation of the surface processes in the model. Land cover, surface temperature and soil water content were estimated from spatial data and compared with the variables simulated by the model on a small area in southern limit of the basin. The first results of the comparison show the potentialities of space measurements for the validation of the hydrometeorological models.