A model based on satellite altimetry and imagery to evaluate water volume changes in a reservoir in Brazil

Luiza Gontijo Álvares de C. Abreu; Philippe Maillard

doi:10.1117/12.2067270

21 October 2014 A model based on satellite altimetry and imagery to evaluate water volume changes in a reservoir in Brazil

Luiza Gontijo Álvares de C. Abreu, Philippe Maillard

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9239, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XVI; 92391B (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2067270
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

Different satellite missions have instruments to measure the water level variation of oceans and some of these instruments are being used in continental water applications with satisfying results. Altimeters on-board the Envisat and SARAL(Altika) satellites are consistently used to measure the water level in continental water bodies. Recent studies on satellite altimetry combined with satellite imagery have shown the great potential of this technique to estimate the water volume of rivers, lakes, wetlands and reservoirs and its temporal variation in response to climate and other environmental variables. A consistent monitoring of water level variations in reservoirs is crucial to the development policies and implementation of actions regarding the distribution and use of the stored water resource. The Trés Marias reservoir is located within the São Francisco river basin, known as the national integration" river, which provides water flow to the semi-arid region of Brazil. This study presents a method to combine satellite altimetry and imagery of the lake's surface to estimate volume changes and create a model from which volume changes could be computed from either the altimetry or the lake's surface area. Our intention with this study is to evaluate the method and its precision, and the possibility to apply it in other areas, such as wetlands and other lakes where in situ measurements are not available. Moreover, data of monitoring stations usually have an arbitrary altitude reference and are not available for the general public; the data from the satellite altimetry has the advantage of being of global reference (geoid) and compatible with the establishment of a worldwide lake and reservoir database. We combined Envisat and SARAL/Altika altimetry data from 2007-2014 period with Landsat imagery from the same time frame. The data was corrected using a novel processing technique resulting in a relative precision of 0.24 m (RMSE).

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Luiza Gontijo Álvares de C. Abreu and Philippe Maillard "A model based on satellite altimetry and imagery to evaluate water volume changes in a reservoir in Brazil", Proc. SPIE 9239, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XVI, 92391B (21 October 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2067270

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