Ocean and rocks

Scientific Consultation on Operational Hydrological Satellite Products

28 – 29 January 2025, Darmstadt

Ocean and rocks
Ocean and rocks

EUMETSAT is exploring how its high-quality satellite data can better support hydrology and meteorology by enabling products like river levels, snow cover, and lake ice thickness.

Last Updated

14 May 2025

Published on

09 May 2025

As the benefits of satellite observations for hydrology are increasingly recognised, EUMETSAT has identified a strong opportunity to support the hydrology and meteorological communities with high-quality, operational satellite data. These observations can aid in the development and operationalisation of a variety of hydrological products and applications, including river and lake levels, lake ice thickness, river outflow, snow cover, and more.

To better assess how EUMETSAT’s data services can be aligned with the needs of hydrological users, a scientific consultation meeting was held at EUMETSAT headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.

Objectives and outcomes

The aims of this scientific workshop were to:

  • Present the current state of the art in spaceborne hydrology research and development (R&D) products and applications.
  • Assess the quality, maturity, and limitations of these products.
  • Identify user needs and related gaps in variables, revisit frequency, data latency, spatial resolution, and data quality.
  • Determine where EUMETSAT can most effectively focus its resources and investments to meet these user needs using existing and planned observation capabilities from EUMETSAT and Copernicus.

Programme and reports

28 – 29 January 2025

Agenda: Hydrology Workshop Agenda – Jan 2025

Supporting Documents:

DAY 1
TitlePresenter/s
Workshop objectives and EUMETSAT’s goalsBojan Bojkov
Session 1: User Considerations
1.1 User needs and future product considerations from the H-SAF point of viewLuca Brocca
1-2 Dreaming of the perfect Hydrology Satellite MissionNick Everard
1-3 User needs from an hydrometeorological institute point of view Natalia Strojna
1-4 Operational hydrological requirements from GermanyBjoern Bascheck and Wolfgang Korres
1-5 A view on hydrology from Copernicus Emergency Management ServicePeter Salamon
Session 2: Exploiting existing capabilities operationally
2-1 A brief history of soil moisture from scatterometersWolfgang Wagner
2-2 Current and upcoming precipitation productsLuca Brocca
2-3 Operational snow extend monitoringThomas Nagler
2-4 Global flood monitoring - a global perspectiveMitch Goldberg
2-5 The importance of in-situ for operational hydrology and satellite-based hydrology product validation in CopernicusJose Rubio
Session 3: Satellite based R&D products and their operational challenges
3-1 Inland waters and river dischargeAngelica Tarpanelli
3-2 Mountain snow and glaciersThomas Nagler
3-3 Recent hydrology developments from altimetryRemko Scharroo
3-4 Potential future products from EUMETSAT operational missionsChristophe Accadia and Giulia Panegrossi
DAY 2
1. Wrap-up of day-1Luca Brocca
2. The Terrestrial Snow Mass Mission: Addressing user needs during mission developmentChris Derksen
3. Future R&D Opportunities in Space-Borne Hydrology –  A Focus on Cold RegionsClaude Duguay
Session 4: Group Presentations
4. Hydrology Workshop - Breakout Group 1 Summary
4-1. Hydrology Workshop - Breakout Group 1 Notes
5. Hydrology Workshop - Breakout Group 2 Summary
6. Hydrology Workshop – Breakout Group 3 Summary
6-1. Hydrology Workshop – Breakout Group 3 Notes
Additional Documents
The fully-automatic Sentinel-1 Global Flood Monitoring service: Scientific challenges and future directionsWolfgang Wagner
EUMETSAT Hydrology Concept NoteNick Everard

Organisation

Participants

ParticipantAffiliation
CHAIR: Bojan BojkovEUMETSAT
Björn BaschekBAFG, Germany
Wolfgang KorresBAFG, Germany
Mitch GoldbergCCNY, USA
Nick EverardCEH, UK
Luca CenciCIMA, Italy
Luca BroccaCNR/IRPI, Italy
Angelica TarpanelliCNR/IRPI, Italy
Chris DerksenECCC, Canada
Jose MiguelEEA, EC
Rubio IglesiasEEA, EC
Thomas NaglerENVEO, Austria
Remko ScharrooEUMETSAT
Estelle ObligisEUMETSAT
Julia FigaEUMETSAT
Lieven BydekerkeEUMETSAT
Paul CounetEUMETSAT
Carolina Nogueira LoddoEUMETSAT
Gareth DaviesEUMETSAT
Juha LemmetyinenFMI, Finland
Bozena LapetaIMGW, Poland
Natalia StrojnaIMGW, Poland
Daniele BironItalian Air Force, Italy
Stefania GrimaldiJRC, EC
Peter SalamonJRC, EC
Marco ClericiJRC, EC
Joel DorandeuMagellium, France
Christo GeorgievNIMH, Bulgaria
Ali KhanNRC-CNRC
Silvia PucaProtezione Civile, Italy
David GustafssonSMHI
Eliasson SalomonSMHI
Wolfgang WagnerTU Vienna, Austria
Claude DuguayH2O Geomatics, Canada
Contact
Dr. Bojan Bojkov
Head of the Remote Sensing and Products Division
Remote Sensing and Products Division (RSP)
EUMETSAT
@email