Groundwater–Surface Water Interaction: Process Understanding, Conceptualization and Modelling (Proceedings of Symposium HS1002 at IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007). IAHS Publ. 321, 2008, 85-93.

Prospecting for freshwater: hydro-meteo-bio-geo-physical controls of surface water–groundwater interactions

ANA P. BARROS

Civil and Environmental Eng., Duke University, Box 90287, North Carolina 27708, USA

barros@duke.edu

Abstract The notion of freshwater prospecting implies a dynamic view of the water cycle leading to a macro-scale, and yet process-based approach to water resources management that goes beyond balancing upstream–downstream transport and supply–demand at local places to embrace multiple basins and complex landscapes. A survey of ongoing research linking landform, land-use and land-cover patterns to the joint space–time variability of hydrometeorological and biophysical processes that govern the water cycle at the landscape scale is presented. Specifically, the focus is on analysing challenges and potential benefits from interpretive and model studies using a wide variety of remote sensing data (clouds, rainfall, vegetation, soil moisture) from multiple satellite platforms and coupled process models to assess the dynamic geography of freshwater stocks and hydroecological resilience. Special emphasis is placed on rainfall distribution and the role of vegetation as a mediator of surface water–groundwater interactions.

Key words- remote sensing; water resources; coupled models; space–time variability; water cycle; land–atmosphere interactions.