@article{fdi:010079828,
  title = {{C}hallenges in flood modeling over data-scarce regions : how to exploit globally available soil moisture products to estimate antecedent soil wetness conditions in {M}orocco},
  author = {{E}l {K}halki, {E}. and {T}ramblay, {Y}ves and {M}assari, {C}. and {B}rocca, {L}. and {S}imonneaux, {V}incent and {G}ascoin, {S}. and {S}aidi, {M}. {E}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he {M}editerranean region is characterized by intense rainfall events giving rise to devastating floods. {I}n {M}aghreb countries such as {M}orocco, there is a strong need for forecasting systems to reduce the impacts of floods. {T}he development of such a system in the case of ungauged catchments is complicated, but remote-sensing products could overcome the lack of in situ measurements. {T}he soil moisture content can strongly modulate the magnitude of flood events and consequently is a crucial parameter to take into account for flood modeling. {I}n this study, different soil moisture products ({E}uropean {S}pace {A}gency {C}limate {C}hange {I}nitiative, {ESA}-{CCI}; {S}oil {M}oisture and {O}cean {S}alinity, {SMOS}; {S}oil {M}oisture and {O}cean {S}alinity by the {I}nstitut {N}ational de la {R}echerche {A}gronomique and {C}entre d'{E}tudes {S}patiales de la {B}iosphere, {SMOS}-{IC}; {A}dvanced {S}catterometer, {ASCAT}; and {ERAS} reanalysis) are compared to in situ measurements and one continuous soil-moisture-accounting ({SMA}) model for basins located in the {H}igh {A}tlas {M}ountains, upstream of the city of {M}arrakech. {T}he results show that the {SMOSIC} satellite product and the {ERAS} reanalysis are best correlated with observed soil moisture and with the {SMA} model outputs. {T}he different soil moisture datasets were also compared to estimate the initial soil moisture condition for an event-based hydrological model based on the {S}oil {C}onservation {S}ervice curve number ({SCS}-{CN}). {T}he {ASCAT}, {SMOS}-{IC}, and {ERAS} products performed equally well in validation to simulate floods, outperforming daily in situ soil moisture measurements that may not be representative of the whole catchment soil moisture conditions. {T}he results also indicated that the daily time step may not fully represent the saturation state before a flood event due to the rapid decay of soil moisture after rainfall in these semiarid environments. {I}ndeed, at the hourly time step, {ERAS} and in situ measurements were found to better represent the initial soil moisture conditions of the {SCS}-{CN} model by comparison with the daily time step. {T}he results of this work could be used to implement efficient flood modeling and forecasting systems in semiarid regions where soil moisture measurements are lacking.},
  keywords = {{ZONE} {MEDITERRANEENNE} ; {MAROC}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{N}atural {H}azards and {E}arth {S}ystem {S}ciences},
  volume = {20},
  numero = {10},
  pages = {2591--2607},
  ISSN = {1561-8633},
  year = {2020},
  DOI = {10.5194/nhess-20-2591-2020},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010079828},
}