Wang et al. (2026) Extending daily river discharge records across China using satellite-derived river widths

Identification

• Journal: Earth system science data
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-23
• Authors: Yong Wang, Yulin Gong, Yinghong Jing, Xiaojun She, Yao Li
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-18-6973-2026

Research Groups

• School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
• National Hydrological and Rainfall Information System of the Ministry of Water Resources of China

Short Summary

This study extends daily river discharge records across China using satellite-derived river widths, reconstructing and extending daily river discharge observations for 310 gauges from 1990 to 2024.

Objective

• To address the gap in global river monitoring by leveraging satellite-based Earth observation and hydrological modeling to extend long-term discharge records in a data-sparse region like China.
• To provide an essential benchmark for assessing riverine responses to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, and contribute valuable observations for future global hydrological modeling and satellite calibration efforts.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Daily river discharge records across China at 310 gauges.
• Temporal Scale: 1990-2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: At-a-station hydraulic geometry (AHG) relationship, paired with concurrent in situ daily discharge observations.
• Data sources: Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery for satellite-derived river width observations, National Hydrological and Rainfall Information System of the Ministry of Water Resources of China for in situ discharge measurements.

Main Results

• The study reconstructs and extends daily river discharge records for 310 gauges across China from 1990 to 2024.
• The median Kling-Gupta efficiency (KGE) of the reconstructed discharge is 0.66, outperforming existing global products.
• Trend analysis reveals that nearly 65% of gauges exhibit declining discharge over 1990-2024.

Contributions

• This study provides an essential benchmark for assessing riverine responses to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances in China.
• The reconstructed discharge records contribute valuable observations for future global hydrological modeling and satellite calibration efforts.

Funding

• Not specified.

Citation

@article{Wang2026Extending,
  author = {Wang, Yong and Gong, Yulin and Jing, Yinghong and She, Xiaojun and Li, Yao},
  title = {Extending daily river discharge records across China using satellite-derived river widths},
  journal = {Earth system science data},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/essd-18-6973-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-6973-2026}
}