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Abstract
Quantifying and projecting the downstream benefits of water stored in lakes and wetlands (SWstorage) requires watershed hydrologic models, which often parameterize surface water storage in topographic depressions using static digital elevation model (DEM) data. Calibration and validation of modeled SWstorage dynamics using external data sets is uncommon, particularly across major river basins, with model calibration typically focused on observed discharge. Here, we develop and assess a novel remote sensing-based (RS) SWstorage data set (Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2) for verifying simulated SWstorage estimates from a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model of the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB; ∼440,000 km2). Our results suggest that static DEM-based parameterization as well as model calibration based solely on discharge do not adequately capture spatial and temporal SWstorage dynamics in the UMRB. Mean SWstorage as estimated by SWAT was 74% ± 122% (mean ± standard deviation) higher than RS SWstorage, where SWstorage in SWAT was underestimated in wetland-rich subbasins and overestimated in agricultural, tile-drained subbasins. Time series of SWAT SWstorage and RS SWstorage were positively correlated in only 38.8% of subbasins. As RS SWstorage is also vulnerable to error, storage estimates were compared to bathymetric data in select small wetlands. While uncertainty remains in the conversion from extent to storage for RS SWstorage, the method and data set presented here are a promising option for improved parameterization and calibration of SWstorage processes in SWAT and other process-based hydrologic models. Further consideration of these storage processes can potentially improve the accuracy of simulated streamflow in wetland-rich model domains.
Suggested Citation
Dolan, W., Vanderhoof, M.K., Christensen, J.R., Golden, H.E., Lane, C.R., Rajib, A., Keenan, W., Zheng, Q., and Khare, A., 2026, Remotely sensed surface water storage shows distinct patterns from SWAT-simulated data: Water Resources Research, v. 62, no. 6, e2025WR040206, 22 p., https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040206.
ISSN: 1944-7973 (online)
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Remotely sensed surface water storage shows distinct patterns from SWAT-simulated data |
| Series title | Water Resources Research |
| DOI | 10.1029/2025WR040206 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication Date | June 08, 2026 |
| Year Published | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center |
| Description | e2025WR040206, 22 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin |