Drought Monitoring in Luxembourg and the Greater Region Using Hydrological Modelling and Satellite Data

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of hydrological extremes in many parts of the world. In Europe as well as in Luxembourg, droughts have worsened in intensity and duration in recent years, causing significant loss to several sectors, such as agriculture and forestry. There is a pressing need for developing and setting up advanced drought monitoring and prediction systems. In this context, this research work aims to improve drought prediction accuracy by jointly assimilating, into a hydrological model, various EO-based datasets, namely soil moisture (SM) and total water storage (TWS) derived from S-1 and GRACE & GRACE-FO satellite missions respectively. The assimilation of satellite-observed water content enables an integrated assessment and modeling of water resources through the monitoring and modeling of SM and groundwater availability in Luxembourg and the Greater Region, between 2012 and 2022.