Neal et al. (2026) Flood Inundation Modeling Using the Surface Water Ocean Topography Mission

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-01
• Authors: Jeffrey Charles Neal, Stephen Chuter, Leanne Archer, Laurence Paul Hawker, Paul Bates, James Thomas Steven Savage, Hamish Wilkinson, J Rougier
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr041527

Research Groups

• Hydrology Laboratory (University of California)
• Space Science Department (California Institute of Technology)

Short Summary

This study proposes a new algorithm to estimate river bathymetry using multitemporal observations from the SWOT mission, achieving accurate results even in narrow rivers.

Objective

• Develop an efficient method for estimating river bathymetry from SWOT data

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: River widths of 40–70 m and reaches up to ∼200 m
• Temporal Scale: Multitemporal observations (i.e., multiple time points)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: SWOT River Single Pass node
• Data sources: Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission data, in situ gauge levels

Main Results

• Estimated channel bed elevations with ∼1 m error when resolved at a spatial scale below half the river backwater length
• Flood model accuracy comparable to high-resolution sonar bathymetry for flooding in 2000

Contributions

• Provided an efficient method for estimating river bathymetry from SWOT data, overcoming limitations of typical errors and mission specifications
• Demonstrated accurate flood modeling using SWOT-derived bathymetry

Funding

• NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission

Citation

@article{Neal2026Flood,
  author = {Neal, Jeffrey Charles and Chuter, Stephen and Archer, Leanne and Hawker, Laurence Paul and Bates, Paul and Savage, James Thomas Steven and Wilkinson, Hamish and Rougier, J},
  title = {Flood Inundation Modeling Using the Surface Water Ocean Topography Mission},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr041527},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041527}
}