Droughts have important implications for the natural and socio economic environments of southern Africa. An understanding of the relation ship between soil moisture content and vegetation condition is necessary to predict the impact of those events. In this paper we explore a methodological approach for early drought prediction. We hypothesize that the amplitude of the diurnal temperature cycle of a vegetated surface, determined using remote sensing measurements, can indicate soil moisture content and vegetation condition. We present a preliminary analysis of three months of soil moisture and temperature data collected at Skukuza, South Africa. The results support our basic hypothesis yet suggest that further work is required to better understand the coupling of these parameters. The SiB2 model will be adapted for this purpose.
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.