SWOT Hydrology Workshop
September 15-17, 2008, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio
Sponsored by NASA, CNES, JPL, and OSU’s Climate, Water, and Carbon Program
Surface Water Ocean Topography satellite mission http://bprc.osu.edu/water/
We Need to Answer These Questions
1. Are the science questions worded and prioritized correctly? The answer to this is
probably Yes.
2. What are the science mission requirements? The answer to this is not known with
exact specificity, but is a part of the “virtual mission”. When listening to the talks and
during the break-out sessions, please try to answer the following:
a. What is the required spatial sampling size, i.e., how small of “pixel” is needed to
measure a particular hydraulic or hydrologic question?
b. Likewise, what is the required height and/or slope accuracy?
c. How often does the hydraulics or hydrology need to be sampled? Does an entire
basin need to be sampled or can the sampling be dense in some locations and
sparse or not at all in others?
d. Is there a one-size fits all answer to the above questions or is there some sort of
hydraulic or hydrologic scaling relationship that can be developed, i.e., small
water bodies sampled differently than large ones?
3. What are the minimum requirements to equal success? Is SWOT a success if it at
least measures storage changes globally? Essentially, what must be done and is
considered a mission driver vs. what is a possible goal but not a mission driver?