H SAF Soil Moisture products
A demonstration session that gives an overview on how to download, read and visualize H SAF soil moisture data using the Python programming language.
The demonstration session gives an overview how to download, read and visualize H SAF soil moisture data using the Python programming language. Jupyter notebooks are used to present code examples, which are hosted at GitHub. H SAF Surface Soil Moisture (SSM) and Root-Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM) products are comprised of either Near Real-Time (NRT), Offline or Data Records (DR) products, which are freely available after user registration at the H SAF data portal. RZSM products are generated fromassimilating the ASCAT-derived surface SM in the ECMWF/H SAF land data assimilation system. Additionally, a hydrological exercise will highlight the added value of soil moisture satellite data for flood prediction. Soil moisture conditions have a great impact on the transformation of precipitation into runoff. A correct estimation of the initial soil moisture condition is a critical aspect for operational flood prediction. In the exercise we will test the sensitivity of flood response to initial soil moisture conditions using a simple hydrological model over an African Basin.