• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.587-596
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• 2014

Soil moisture is one of the most important interests in hydrological response and the interaction between the land surface and atmosphere. Estimation of Antecedent Wetness Conditions (AWC) which is soil moisture condition prior to a rainfall in the basin should be considered for rainfall-runoff prediction. In this study, Soil Wetness Index (SWI), Antecedent Precipitation Index ($API_5$), remotely sensed Soil Moisture ($SM_{rs}$), and 5 days ground Soil Moisture ($SM_{g5}$) were selected to estimate the AWC at four study area in the Korean Peninsula. The remotely sensed soil moisture data were taken from the AMSR-E soil moisture archive. The maximum potential retention ($S_{obs}$) was obtained from direct runoff and rainfall using Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method by rainfall data of 2011 for each study area. Results showed the great correlations between the maximum potential retention and SWI with a mean correlation coefficient which is equal to -0.73. The results of time length representing the time scale of soil moisture showed a gap from region to region. It was due to the differences of soil types and the characteristics of study area. Since the remotely sensed soil moisture has been proved as reasonable hydrological variables to predict a wetness in the basin, it should be continuously monitored.