Event Week on Heatwaves and Droughts 2023
In the week from 29 May to 1 June 2023 EUMeTrain oragnized an Event week on heatwaves and Droughts. During the event week there was a number of presentations which covered different aspects of heatwaves and droughts, mainly focusing on satellite observations that can be used to study their impacts and causes. There was a total of 16 presentations.
Session 1 - 29 May 2023
Ryan Teuling (Wageningen University) - Drivers of droughts and heatwave intensification mechanisms
Heatwaves and droughts are often strongly linked due to the increased sensible heat fluxes at the land surface warming the atmosphere above. In this talk, I will discuss how soil moisture depletion changes the land surface energy balance, and how the evolution of changes in the land surface energy balance is different for different land cover types (i.e., forest and short vegetation). The use of high-resolution satellite soil moisture data for drought monitoring is also discussed.
Sofia Ermida (IPMA / LSA SAF) - Google Earth Engine - a powerful tool to study heatwaves & droughts
The Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a powerful tool for researchers providing easy access to a large array of environmental datasets, particularly from remote sensing, and the computational resources to analyzed them. Here we present an overview of the capabilities and datasets of the GEE useful for the study of heatwaves and droughts and provide some examples of applications
Session 2 - 30 May 2023
Isabel Trigo (IPMA / LSA SAF) - How is LSA SAF helping in monitoring of Heatwaves & Droughts
Heat and water stress leave clear signatures on land surface variables that can be monitored from space. The LSA SAF has been providing satellite datasets and products that allow the characterization of the surface energy budget and the monitoring of vegetation growth and stress. We will show that the combination of information on the surface temperature diurnal cycle and on vegetation state provides a different perspective on the spatial extent and time evolution of droughts and heatwaves, and reveals underlying soil vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks.
João Martins (IPMA / LSA SAF) - Land Surface Temperature and Heatwave monitoring
Heat and water stress leave clear signatures on land surface variables that can be monitored from space. The LSA SAF has been providing satellite datasets and products that allow the characterization of the surface energy budget and the monitoring of vegetation growth and stress. We will show that combining information on the surface temperature diurnal cycle and on vegetation state provides a different perspective on the spatial extent and time evolution of droughts and heatwaves, and reveals underlying soil vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks.
Hayley Evers-King (EUMETSAT) - Marine Heatwaves - how can SST anomalies influence HW over land?
Heatwaves don't just happen on land, but also at sea. Periods of extreme regional ocean warming are becoming more frequent and more extreme, affecting our oceans most diverse ecosystems, and those upon which human society depends. In this presentation we'll see how satellite data can be used to identify marine heatwaves, via a practical demonstration in a Python Jupyter Notebook. We'll also consider the connections between heatwaves on land and those that happen at sea.
David Fairbairn (ECMWF) - Soil moisture and drought monitoring
H SAF soil moisture (SM) products are derived from ASCAT C-band backscatter measurements. In this presentation we compare the near-real-time products with long-term data records in order to demonstrate the exceptional severity and extent of recent droughts, including the 2022 summer drought over Europe.
Lucca Broca (Italian National Research Council / Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection / H SAF) - On the combined use of multiple satellite-derived variable (precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and snow) for monitoring drought and water resources
How do we monitor drought? Is it enough to use only precipitation data and calculate the SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index)? New satellite-derived products (precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture and snow) offer additional ways to monitor drought in space and time, to assess WHERE the water is (surface soil, root zone soil, snowpack), and thus to know WHEN the water will be available. Real-world case studies will be analyzed together with the participants, also using an interactive platform (https://explorer.dte-hydro.adamplatform.eu/). The objectives of the lecture are: (1) to assess drought risk based on (new) satellite observations, and (2) to translate drought risk information into real-world decisions for water resources management (e.g., reservoir management, irrigation, hydropower generation).
Session 3 - 31 May 2023
Panagiotis Sismanidis (National Observatory of Athens / Ruhr University Bochum) - Urban Heat Islands
Cities are generally warmer than their surroundings. This phenomenon is known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and is one of the clearest examples of human-induced climate modification. UHIs increase the cooling energy demand, aggravate the feeling of thermal discomfort, and influence air quality. In this talk we will discuss the drivers and impacts of UHIs and showcase how to characterize the urban landscape in Local Climate Zones. We will also discuss the discrepancies between remotely-sensed land surface temperatures (LST) and near-surface air temperatures when studying the urban climate.
Recording Panagiotis Sismanidis
Anke Duguay-Tetzlaff (MeteoSwiss / CM-SAF) and Vincent Humphrey - Climatological Drought Monitoring in Switzerland Using EUMETSAT SAF Satellite Data
The Swiss government has started a drought monitoring project in 2023. The goal is to set an operational drought monitoring and warning system in the upcoming years. In a pre-study we have analyzed the potential of EUMETSAT satellite data for climatological drought monitoring in Switzerland. We will present possibilities and shortcomings of the different analyzed soil moisture, land surface temperature and evaporation data and provide an outlook on how we plan to integrate EUMETSAT data in the system.
Recording Anke Duguay-Tetzlaff and Vincent Humphrey
Beatriz Martinez (University of Valencia) - LSA SAF Vegetation products
The scientific community requires consistent long-term data records with well-characterized uncertainty and suitable for modelling terrestrial ecosystems changes as consequence of current climate impact at global scales. The vegetation climate data records (CDRs) of FAPAR (LSA-426) and FVC (LSA-422) are freely available within the EUMESAT LSA SAF (http://lsa-saf.eumetsat.int). These CDRs offer more than fifteen years (2005- present) of homogeneous and continuous 10-day time series for climate and environmental applications. The main goal of this lecture is to present a few examples CDRs analysis to monitor and characterize areas mainly affected by severe drought events. Moreover, the potential in the assessment of ecosystem response to rainfall deficit events is also presented using the last operational product included in the VEGA portfolio, the 10-day gross primary production (GPP; MGPP LSA-411). The robustness of this product is evaluated at both site and regional scales across the MSG disk using eddy covariance (EC) GPP measurements and Earth Observing (EO)-based GPP products, respectively, over a short period of three years.
Célia Gouveia (IPMA) - Impacts of extremes on vegetation dynamics and crops
The frequency and intensity of extreme hot and dry events have increased worldwide, particularly over the past couple of decades. The interaction between co-occurring drought and hot conditions is often particularly damaging to vegetation and crop's health and may cause crop failure. This lecture will provide insights on the impacts of compounded and separated dry and hot extremes on vegetation activity, and crop production and yield. Examples of the detection, monitoring and evaluation of such impacts using remote sensing products will be shown.
Bostjan Muri (Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) - Case studies using LSA SAF data
In this presentation, we explore numerous real world applications of the use of LSA SAF data. Our focus is identifying heatwaves and droughts based on satellite data. Vegetation anomalies can be particularly helpful for drought monitoring. These show cases are selected in order to highlight the benefits of specific applications using LSA SAF data and its added-value when compared with other existing sources of observations (either satellite or meteorological stations) as well as model output.
Session 4 - 1 June 2023
Ana Bastos (Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry) and Tiago Ermitão (IPMA / University of Lisbon - Instituto Dom Luiz) - Impacts on Global Carbon Cycle
Droughts and heatwaves have become more frequent and severe over the last years as a consequence of climate change. These events result in water stress conditions to vegetation, affecting photosynthesis and respiration from plant to ecosystem scales, impacting the net carbon balance of ecosystems. This lecture will provide insights on the impacts of climate extreme events on vegetation function and the carbon cycle, showcasing examples on how these impacts can be detected using remote sensing products how Earth System and other models can be used to project future impacts of extreme events on the Carbon cycle.
Ana Russo (University of Lisbon - Instituto Dom Luiz) and Rita Durão (IPMA) - Impacts on air quality
Heatwaves often lead to low air quality levels. Very high to extreme temperatures combined with stagnant air conditions increase air pollutants concentrations, such as tropospheric ozone. This effect might be emphasized when drought conditions also occur, which contributes to increasing fire danger and decreasing air quality levels too. Air pollution impacts on health are consequently an important issue, together with the drawbacks on ecosystems. This lecture will provide insights into the detection, monitoring, and evaluation of air quality impacts, using among others, remote sensing products.
Recording Ana Russo and Rita Durão
Carla Barroso (EUMETSAT) - EUMETSAT climate services
The presentation will give an overview on EUMETSAT’s efforts to provide climate data records based on satellite measurements and how EUMETSAT supports the work of climate services through this. Focus will be on satellite products provided by EUMETSAT and the different Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs). During the presentation participants will learn how the creation of climate data records is different from creating a near-real-time product and why EUMETSAT and the SAFs invests in this. Links to further information and learning material will be included.