Mapping recharge from space: roadmap to meeting the grand challenge

Fields of diffuse recharge flux play pivotal roles in: (1) linking surface and subsurface hydrologic systems, (2) controlling the biogeochemistry of terrestrial systems, and (3) determining the sustainability of well withdrawals from aquifers. This hydrologic flux is intimately related to the distribution and functioning of vegetation cover and type. In turn, it also plays a significant role in the distribution of vegetation. Until now, recharge has been mostly estimated as residual of either surface or subsurface water balance. In situ instruments for measurement of this quantity are difficult to implement and maintain. Long-term and spatially explicit (mapped) monitoring of recharge flux have been elusive goals. A review is presented of the possible spaceborne and airborne remote sensing and data interpretation techniques that may address the grand challenge of recharge mapping on large scales. The approaches rely on microwave remote sensing in order to measure land surface states in the presence of atmosphere and vegetation cover that attenuate and disturb the signal as it travels from the surface to the sensor. The emphasis is on radar systems that also have beneficial ground spatial resolution characteristics. Finally, examples of two candidate space-borne systems are presented as feasible approaches to the required measurements.