ABSTRACT
Flooding, which is considered as one of the most hazardous and frequently occurring disasters in both rural and urban areas, accounts for around one-third of all global geophysical hazards. Every year there are hundreds and thousands of flooding events around the world that cause a significant number of fatalities and economic loss (Adhikari et al., 2010; Hong et al., 2007a). With strong impacts from human activities and changing climate, it is reasonably anticipated that the flood risk will not decrease, but rather become more severe and frequent, thus threatening more regions around the world in the future (McCarthy, 2001). The increasing adverse worldwide impact from floods indicates that flooding is not only a regional or national-level issue, but is instead a global problem that greatly motivates a global flood monitoring and forecasting system coordinated among worldwide research institutions and government decision makers, and this is particularly essential for developing regions with sparsely hydrologic gauges or even without gauge observations. However,
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 139 8.2 Streamflow Estimated from Remote Sensing ............................................... 141 8.3 Assimilation of Remotely Sensed Information for Improving
Hydrologic Predictions ................................................................................. 145 8.3.1 Study Region ..................................................................................... 145 8.3.2 Data Used .......................................................................................... 145 8.3.3 Methodology ..................................................................................... 145 8.3.4 Streamflow Assimilation and Predictions ........................................ 147
8.4 Summary and Future Prospective ................................................................ 148 References .............................................................................................................. 151
insufficient reliable observations have been a barrier in hydrologic predictions, especially in those developing regions.
