A Framework for Diagnosing Factors Degrading the Streamflow Performance of a Soil Moisture Data Assimilation System

Abstract

Data assimilation (DA) techniques have been widely applied to assimilate satellite-based soil moisture (SM) measurements into hydrologic models to improve streamflow simulations. However, past studies have reached mixed conclusions regarding the degree of runoff improvement achieved via SM state updating. In this study, a synthetic diagnostic framework is designed to 1) decompose the random error components in a hydrologic simulation, 2) quantify the error terms that originate from SM states, and 3) assess the effectiveness of SM DA to correct these random errors. The general framework is illustrated through a case study in which surface Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) data are assimilated into a large-scale land surface model in the Arkansas?Red River basin. The case study includes systematic error in the simulated streamflow that imposes a first-order limit on DA performance. In addition, about 60% of the random runoff error originates directly from rainfall and cannot be corrected by SM DA. In particular, fast-response runoff dominates in much of the basin but is relatively unresponsive to state updating. Slow-response runoff is strongly controlled by the bottom-layer SM and therefore only modestly improved via the assimilation of surface measurements. Combined, the total runoff improvement in the synthetic analysis is small (<10% over the basin). Improvements in the real SMAP-assimilated case are further limited due to systematic error and other factors such as inaccurate error assumptions and SMAP rescaling. Findings from the diagnostic framework suggest that SM DA alone is insufficient to substantially improve streamflow estimates in large basins.