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Title: Land Surface Hydrology during the Cloud Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) in 2007

Author
item Cosh, Michael
item Jackson, Thomas
item Kustas, William - Bill
item BASARA, J - UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2008
Publication Date: 3/10/2008
Citation: Cosh, M.H., Jackson, T.J., Kustas, W.P., Basara, J. 2008. Land surface hydrology during the Cloud Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) in 2007 [abstract]. 18th Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Science Meeting. p. 71.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fundamental to the objectives of Cloud Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) is the understanding of the interactions between the atmosphere and the land surface. In addition, CLASIC observations and monitoring will be used to validate the multiple remote sensing products retrieved during the study period. USDA and cooperators focused on characterizing two of the three most important hydrologic components in land-atmosphere interactions; soil moisture (the storage reservoir) and evapotranspiration (the moisture supply to the atmosphere). Precipitation (the moisture supply to the ground) is the third and is readily available. A team of scientists and students recorded highly accurate ground-based observations from two carefully selected locations west of Chickasha, OK; the Little Washita and Fort Cobb watersheds. Each of these watersheds is monitored by USDA in situ networks recording soil moisture, and meteorological data. In addition, ground teams recorded high density measurements within selected field scale plots for scaling to the remote sensing footprints. Tower based surface energy balance observations were made at multiple locations in the watersheds, as well as other locations, as well as other locations including the Central Facility and Forest Sites. In addition to the large scale soil moisture measurements conducted throughout the experiment, land cover surveys, vegetation measurements and surface characterizations were also conducted to develop detailed land cover and vegetation water content imagery. Several aircraft remotely monitored these same ground variables to transfer the point information to the entire (~50,000 square km) CLASIC study area. Both the soil moisture and evapotranspiration derived using the ground and aircraft observations will be used to develop and validate satellite-based approaches and land-atmosphere models. Knowledge gained from this study will lead to better prediction tools that will benefit a broad spectrum of applications in agriculture ranging from more accurate weather forecasting to improved water management decisions and crop yield estimation.