Estimation of Water Balance based on Satelite Date in the Korean Peninsula

Quantifying water balance components is crucial to understanding the basic hydrology and hydrochemistry. An importance of water balace studies has been emphasized from the need to grasp the actual condition of water resources and environmental changes including climatic changes. This paper proposes a method for evaluating water balance components based on the vegetation monitor using remote sensing data. Here, the evapotranspiration model adopts a direct method by using NDVI(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) calculated from NOAA/AVHRR data and a detailed descriptionof water balance by using the evapotranspiration over the Korean Peninsula. In the study, areal distribution data sets of water balance components are produced using NDVI and a simplified water balance model. This method enables one to discuss the hydrological problems for North Korea where insufficient meteorological and hydrological data exist. The results obtained indicate the specific regional features on water inventory and fluctuation in water balance.