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A novel approach for next generation water use mapping using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data

October 7, 2020

Evapotranspiration (ET) is needed in a range of applications in hydrology, climatology, ecology, and agriculture. Remote sensing-based estimation is the only viable and economical method for ET estimation over large areas. The current Landsat satellites provide images every 16 days limiting the ability to capture biophysical changes affecting ET. Thus, we explored the potential integration of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 data for estimating ET using a surface energy balance model. The results indicate the proposed Landsat-Sentinel data fusion approach substantially reduced relative errors from 48% to 10% on area-wide and from 49% to 17% on pixel-wide compared to linear interpolation between two Landsat images. The proposed approach had a better agreement with expected actual ET maps across high-vegetation conditions than in low-vegetation conditions. The finer temporal resolution and better accuracy of ET maps based on Landsat-Sentinel integration is of great importance in managing limited water resources.

Publication Year 2020
Title A novel approach for next generation water use mapping using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data
DOI 10.1080/02626667.2020.1817461
Authors Ramesh Singh, Kul Bikram Khand, Stefanie Kagone, Matthew Schauer, Gabriel Senay, Zhuoting Wu
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Hydrological Sciences Journal
Index ID 70215189
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center