Assessment of H SAF satellite snow products in hydrological applications over the Upper Euphrates Basin

Satellite technology offers alternative products for hydrological applications; however, products should be validated with benchmark models and/or data sets for operational purposes. This study assesses the performance of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management (H SAF) snow products of snow detection, SE-E-SEVIRI(H10), and snow water equivalent, SWE-E(H13), data sets over a mountainous catchment in the Upper Euphrates, Turkey. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow extent is used as a benchmark. Two different conceptual hydrological models are employed to obtain reliable results over the period 2008–2020. First, the spatio-temporal assessment of satellite-derived snow cover area (SCA) data is evaluated, followed by the calibration/validation of hydrological models, SRM and HBV, for impact analysis and hydro-validation of satellite snow products, respectively. SRM, demanding SCA as one of the primary forcings, reveals high Kling Gupta Efficiency, KGE, (0.75–0.89) in the impact analysis of satellite data. In hydro-validation analysis, noteworthy Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency, NSE (0.89–0.92), values are obtained for SCA derived by SE-E-SEVIRI(H10) and MODIS as compared to simulated HBV model results. SWE-E(H13) product is also valuable since snow water equivalent (SWE) values are rarely available for mountainous areas. However, this product seems to need further attention. Overall results show the degree of applicability and usefulness of H SAF snow data in hydrological applications; thus, the strong need to disseminate the products is highlighted.